Don't Say a Word
by BrenRenQoI
Summary: Clark takes a slightly different approach in revealing his feelings to Lois while she considers Luthor's proposal. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Don't Say A Word

by Bren Ren

~~*S*~~

Summary: Clark takes a slightly different approach in revealing his feelings to Lois when she is considering Luthor's proposal.

Rating: M for adult situations

Chronology: Season 1, Barbarians at the Planet

Author's notes: This is my first foray into the world of Lois and Clark fic, even though I've been an avid (read: obsessed) fan of the show from day one, way back when. This story was inspired by a suggestion I read somewhere that Clark should have kissed Lois when he confessed that he was in love with her. The muse took that idea and ran with it, and this little story has been playing in my mind ever since. I finally have the time to start writing again, so... without further ado ('cause I'm sure you've had enough already!) I hereby offer my humble first submission of a Lois and Clark story. Happy fic-ing!

~~*S*~~

Clark sat down on the bench, closing his eyes for a moment while gathering the courage to say what he needed to say. That the strongest man in the world needed every ounce of courage he possessed certainly said something about the importance of this moment. He knew that his words would forever alter the course of their relationship... and he was fairly certain that she wasn't quite ready for it. He wouldn't be telling her this now had his hand not been forced, but he couldn't live with himself if he didn't take this chance now, before it was too late. Before he lost her forever to that monstrosity parading himself around as the world's greatest humanitarian.

He took a slow deep breath before opening his eyes and pinning her with his gaze, silently pouring out all of the love he held for her, willing her to see it. "Lois, when I thought about losing my job at the Planet, saying goodbye to Perry, Jimmy, everyone... I realized something...I realized I could lose all that and still go on. I realized there was only one thing I didn't want to live without... and that was you. Seeing you every morning, working with you, being with you."

"That's why you should-"

"No." His voice hardened on that simple little word. Lois blinked in surprise. ""Lois, listen to me. I'm not talking about our partnership. I'm talking about us." He paused as she wrinkled her brow in confusion. Clark sat up straighter, turning to face her more directly . "I've been in love with you for a long time." Lois gasped. "You must have known."

It took her a moment to form words; when she spoke, her voice was soft, a note of surprise in her hushed tone. "I knew..."

Clark lifted a hand and placed a finger to her lips. "Please, Lois, don't... don't say anything right now. Just think about it."

As he lowered his hand, she started to speak. "Clark-"

"Please," he asked again. Then, before she could try again, he raised a hand to cup her cheek, drawing her towards him. As their eyes locked and a thousand unspoken messages passed between them, Clark lowered his head until their lips finally made contact.

At that first soft, gentle caress, Lois gasped again, her eyes widening briefly before drifting shut. Clark, too, closed his eyes as he slowly increased the pressure between them, the hand at her cheek gliding around to clasp the back of her head. He held her firmly as his lips moved over hers.

A low moan rose up through Lois, and to his utter delight, she began to respond, her mouth molding with his. It was Clark's turn to moan, low and deep, when he felt the soft tip of her tongue touch his lips. His response was instant; eager, but not demanding. He slid his own tongue out to taste her, and she immediately opened up beneath him.

After an endless moment of slow exploration, Clark pulled away, ending the kiss as gently as it had begun. He opened his eyes to look at her. Her eyes remained closed, her lips slightly swollen from their activities. Her breathing was short and shallow, and as she finally opened her eyes, Clark was immensely relieved and filled with no small amount of hope at seeing her features fill with wonder.

"Please, just... think about it." Clark stood to take his leave, but as he turned away, she reached out and grabbed his hand. He turned back to face her. They simply stared at one another for a few seconds before she offered him a small, tentative smile and a gentle squeeze of his hand. He returned the gesture before pulling away, his smile just as small, but filled with all of his love for her. At last, he turned and walked away.

~~*S*~~

For the longest time, Lois simply sat there on the bench, her expression stunned and her mind a jumble of thoughts and feelings spiraling out of control. Abruptly, she stood and walked to the street, hailing a taxi to take her home, LNN completely forgotten.

After locking herself inside the private sanctuary she called home, she kicked off her shoes, leaving them wherever they had landed, and went straight to the refrigerator to liberate her standby supply of double chocolate ice cream. She grabbed a spoon and made her way back to the living room, flopping down on her less than comfortable sofa.

Clark was in love with her! Her partner, the man who had managed to somehow sneak past all her defenses to become a very good friend indeed, had actually fallen in love with her. Her. Lois Lane, the success-driven career woman of the nineties, the poster child for the classic type-A personality, the woman no man dared get close to unless he was utterly invulnerable.

Of course, that thought led her straight to thoughts of Superman, the one man she had allowed herself to believe in, to have feelings for. The one man who was safe to love, because after all, he was the ultimate fantasy. And what made him the ideal candidate for her fragile heart was the fact that he was essentially the unattainable ideal.

Unlike Clark, who was right there at her fingertips, offering himself to her. Completely available, undeniably attractive (she would never admit just how many nights she had dreamed of that little white towel falling to the floor that morning she had gone to pick him up for work), and raised by loving parents who taught him good manners, good morals, and what real love really means. He wasn't the casual fling type, he was a forever kind of guy, and for some crazy, unfathomable reason, he wanted her.

Forever. The very word was terrifying to Lois. Forever had never really meant forever in her experience. In the quiet of her apartment that afternoon, she finally admitted to herself what she had spent the last year denying: if she gave Clark a chance, if she opened up her heart to him, let him in, let herself feel all those dangerous emotions churning beneath the surface, and it turned into the same federal disaster as every other relationship she'd ever had, she very well may never recover. She would lose not only her lover, but her partner and friend as well, and life would never be the same.

It was much easier, much safer, to keep Clark relegated to the friend category, to ignore and deny the connection she felt with him. And, oh, did she feel it. Every time he smiled at her, every time he brought her a cup of coffee fixed just the way she liked it, every time she found them finishing one another's sentences, she felt it. It was real, and it was strong. Stronger than anything she'd ever felt.

Well, almost anything.

There was one connection she felt that was just as strong, just as real. She felt it every time she was with Superman. Whether standing beside him or being cradled in his arms as he flew her to safety, there was no denying the powerful sense of connection she felt to the caped hero. It was more than attraction, though that was obviously there in spades. She'd lost count of the times she told herself that it was love, nearly convincing herself that it was the only real love she had ever felt.

But only nearly. Now, sitting in her gradually darkening apartment as evening set in, she realized that the feelings of love she felt for Superman were running neck and neck with the feelings she discovered herself to be harboring for her bespectacled partner. How could she possibly hold such strong feelings for two different men at the same time?

As she set the now-empty ice cream carton on the low table beside her, another realization dawned on her. She had absolutely no business considering the proposal of marriage from a man she knew without a doubt that she did not love. She released a small sigh of relief as that decision was made. She would contact Lex tomorrow and tell him that she would not marry him.

One man down, two men left. For a moment, Lois thought about calling for Superman, to ask him once and for all if there was any chance for them, but she held back. She couldn't put Clark in the position of being runner-up to anyone, even Superman. If she decided to be with Clark, it would not be that she chose him because he was all that was left. He deserved so much better than that.

Hopelessly confused now, though, Lois decided that she needed something to help her relax; nearly every muscle in her body was aching from the emotional tension building up inside her. She stood slowly, taking the empty carton back to the kitchen to be disposed of before heading back to her bedroom. She stood there for a moment before deciding her course of action. She selected one of her favorite negligees, a filmy light blue gown with a matching robe, then made her way to the bathroom for a long soak in a hot bubbly tub.

~~*S*~~

Flying through the air as he wound up his evening patrol of Metropolis, Clark Superman Kent found himself drifting towards Lois Lane's apartment. Although he told himself he wasn't going to see her tonight, he couldn't seem to help himself. He was drawn to her, as always; when he reached the skies directly over her dwelling place, he tried, feebly, to convince himself to turn away after assuring himself that she'd made it home all right.

Soft lights were glowing through the curtained windows, and he felt himself sinking lower and lower until he was directly in front of the always-open window of her upper-story home. He closed his eyes in self-defeat, resolving then that this would be the last time Superman paid a late evening visit to Lois Lane. It was time to put an end to the fantasy once and for all, no matter how much it hurt them both. It was the only way they could ever have a real relationship. He lifted his hand and gently tapped on the glass.

He heard her gasp his name a few seconds before the curtains parted, revealing the most lovely Lois he had ever seen. She was clad in a soft, silky, way too sexy gown, thin spaghetti straps barely holding the material over the swell of her cleavage. A small smile graced her features as she stood back, silently inviting him in.

"I... I wasn't expecting you... or anyone... um... I'll just... let me go put on a robe," she managed in a low voice. Clark nodded once, and she turned away, disappearing into her bedroom.

He swallowed hard the moment she left the room. This was going to be harder than he thought, in more ways than one. Again he told himself that this had to be done, that it was the only way for them to truly be together the way he wanted, the way they both deserved.

Moments later, Lois returned, wearing the robe that matched the gown. While certainly more demure than the gown alone had been, she was still sexier than he had ever remembered seeing her. He clenched his jaw briefly as he willed his body to stop responding so viscerally to her appearance.

"We need to talk." His voice was low, serious, and deeper than ever.

"Yes, we do," Lois agreed, much to his surprise. "There have been a lot of things going on in my life lately... a lot of changes, and... well, to be honest, I'm... confused. Really, really confused. I don't even know where to start."

"Then perhaps I should go first." Lois regarded him for a moment before nodding. Before he could speak again, though, she turned away, walking over to sit on one of her settees. He followed, sitting down beside her. Close, but not too close.

"Lois, you should know that this is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do." He gently took one of her hands in his. "The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you. I would do everything in my power to protect you from any pain... but there's something I need to make clear. Something I'm sure you don't want to hear as much as I don't want to say."

He could see by the look in her eyes that Lois had a pretty good idea as to what was coming. "Then don't say it." Her voice was scarcely more than a whisper, and he thought he saw the beginnings of tears welling up in her eyes. He silently cursed himself for what he knew was to come.

"I'm sorry, Lois. So very sorry. I care about you, more than you know, but... there are a lot of things that you don't know about me."

"Of course there are," she replied, her voice finding strength at last. "And there are a lot of things that you don't know about me."

"I'm sure there are... but that doesn't change the situation." He found himself struggling to find the words to end her dreams of a romance with Superman while remaining honest; no matter how difficult it was, though, he would not lie to her outright.

Lois narrowed her eyes. "What situation would that be, Superman?"

"I know you want more than just friendship, Lois, but the truth is... you are never going to have the kind of relationship you've been fantasizing about." Lois opened her mouth to speak, then shut it just as quickly, turning her head away and closing her eyes. "If the world knew that Superman was involved with you, your life wouldn't be your own anymore. Between the public hounding your every move and the villains of the world doing all they could to use you against me, you would never be safe. You would never have a moment's peace. I refuse to put you in that position, and I can't allow you to put yourself there, either."

She slowly opened her eyes and turned back to face him. When she spoke, her voice was again very soft, nearly cracking every other word. "The world wouldn't have to know."

He shook his head sadly. "You deserve better than some clandestine, secret affair. You really wouldn't be happy with that, and I think you know it." He watched as she swallowed hard, blinking back tears she refused to allow to fall. He gently squeezed her hand before releasing it as he finally stood up. With no small reluctance, he turned away and walked back to the window.

"Superman, wait!" Lois hurried over, her hand at his shoulder turning him back to face her. "This is it, isn't it? It's really goodbye."

He gave her a small smile. "I will always be your friend, Lois. No matter what." He watched her nod as she stepped in closer to him, the hand at his shoulder slowly gliding up and around his neck. He saw and recognized the unmistakable look in her eyes, closing his own as he surrendered to the inevitable.

As her mouth touched his, his hands came up to gently clasp her about the waist. He tried, he really tried, to keep his emotions in check as their lips merged, but it was a hopeless battle, utterly lost the moment he felt her tongue slide across him. He couldn't resist responding in kind, allowing himself just the smallest taste of her before he finally convinced himself to pull away.

As he stepped back, he reached up to gently caress her cheek one last time before he floated up off the ground and through the window. As her hands dropped to her sides, he watched a single tear slide down her cheek before he tore his gaze away and sailed out of her sight.

~~*S*~~

For a long moment, Lois stood at the window, staring absently at the path Superman had taken. Finally, releasing a long sigh, she reached out and pulled the window closed, fastening the latch for the first time in almost a year. She really was letting go of the dream, the fantasy.

As she turned back to look around her apartment, she was surprised to find that the pain she expected to feel... simply wasn't there. She had thought her heart would be breaking into a million pieces right about now, considering how strong her feelings for the superhero had been, and yet... She felt the loss, and it did hurt, but it wasn't the all-consuming anguish she would have expected from saying goodbye to the man she loved.

Did that mean that she hadn't really loved him?

She thought about that one for a while, then shook her head. No, she was certain that what she had felt was love, but... perhaps it had been more of an infatuation than truly being in love with the man. And, honestly, what red-blooded woman on the planet wasn't at least a little infatuated with him? He was easily the most gorgeous being she had ever laid eyes on, and he was completely good, compassionate, kind, caring, and so much more. But when it came right down to it, he really was just a fantasy. And she had known that all along.

Oh, he was a great fantasy, there was no denying that. Past dreams flitted through her mind, of late night flights, romantic dinners in the world's most exotic locations. He was a man who could satisfy her every whim... when he wasn't busy saving the world.

But she couldn't ever recall imagine any sort of normal relationship type activities with Superman. Going out to the movies. A simple, quiet dinner at home. Whiling away a rainy day playing board games. Hanging out at a weekend barbecue with a few good friends.

On the other hand, she could all too easily picture doing all those things with Clark.

Clark.

Her partner.

The man who had become quite probably the closest friend she'd ever had, even in spite of her sometimes awful treatment of him in the early days of their acquaintance.

The man who had, that very afternoon, confessed that he was in love with her, that he had been for a long time.

So how did she feel about him? She began to smile slowly. She knew she loved him, but was she in love with him?

Her mind wandered back through the months that she had known him. He had always been there for her, had always offered her his friendship even when she knew she didn't deserve it. Like the time that she had stolen his story. Her smile faded and she felt her cheeks warming in an embarrassed flush. He'd certainly repaid her in full for that one, sending her to get lost in the wilds of the Metropolis Sewage Reclamation Facility in her furious quest to track down Superman shortly after his debut. He had earned her respect, although if she were completely honest with herself (and wasn't that the point of this little exercise in introspection?), she would admit that he'd started earning it when they had first been assigned to work together. 'You like to be on top. Got it.' As his teasing words echoed in her mind, she again felt her cheeks warm in a blush.

He could keep up with her on the job, no small feat, she knew. He could match wits with her, and she enjoyed the back and forth parrying of their verbal banter, on and off the clock. He was the first man she really felt comfortable with, whether they were in the newsroom or just hanging out sharing pizza and a movie after hours. She looked forward to seeing him every day, and had truly missed him in the days since the Planet's demise.

But did that all add up to being in love? She still wasn't sure. And that was beginning to frustrate her. Why was she so hesitant, so reluctant to open herself up to him in that way?

As soon as she thought the question, though, she knew the answer. There was too much to lose. Her track record in the relationship department left a lot to be desired. If she were to risk her heart with Clark only to have it blow up in her face the same way every other relationship she had been in had done, she wouldn't just lose a lover, she'd lose her friend. And the very idea of losing Clark was unbearable.

So where did that leave her?

Exhausted, she realized. She glanced at the clock and realized it was getting quite late. She decided that it was time to shut off these endless musings and get some rest. She only hoped her mind would cooperate and let her get some much needed sleep. She rose and made her way to bed, turning off the light only after she had nestled deep under the soft covers. She closed her eyes and willed her body to relax.

Her brain wasn't quite ready to shut down, though. As she lay in bed, she found herself again growing frustrated at her reluctance to gamble her heart in a romantic relationship with Clark. It wasn't like she was cowardly by nature. When it came to work, she was remarkably fearless in the pursuit of a story, even recklessly so at times. So why was it so hard to transfer that bravery to matters of the heart? She really was being a coward, and she hated herself for it.

Her last thought, as sleep slowly claimed her, was that if she could somehow find the courage to take a chance with Clark, she knew that she would be happier with him than she had ever been with anyone else. A warm smile filled her face as sleep finally came.

~~*S*~~

She was dreaming, and she knew it. And since she was dreaming, she decided that she would take this opportunity to forget about all her fears, to let go of them and focus on all the other feelings flowing through her.

She was on a plane, on Trask's plane, and he had just agreed to her "last request" to kiss Clark goodbye. She walked over to him, her eyes slowly raising to meet with his. She saw surprise there, as though this was the very last thing he had expected from her. She also saw something else... hope? Or perhaps... desire? That seemed crazy, and yet... she was pretty certain of what she saw. Then, she closed her eyes, tipped her head up and leaned forward until their lips connected.

His lips were soft and so very warm. She increased the pressure between them, moving across him slowly in a gentle caress. He was quick to respond, meeting her movements with equal intensity. To her utter amazement, she found a small pool of desire welling up deep in her belly... and then it was over. As they parted, she opened her eyes to look at him. She found his eyes had grown dark and seemed a bit hazy.

She knew that when this moment had actually transpired all those months ago, that she had leaned over to whisper instructions to attack their guards right after their kiss, but since this was a dream... she simply stared at him, trying to decipher the emotions she saw flitting across his face in those brief moments; there were many of them, and she was pretty sure she only caught a small fraction of what was there.

_Surprise. _

_Wonder. _

_Pleasure. _

_Hope. _

_Fear. _

_**Desire**. _

She closed her eyes as that last one registered, determined to savor it even as she acknowledge that every single one of those feelings was completely mutual.

When at last she opened her eyes, she was mildly surprised to find herself in the darkened newsroom of the Daily Planet, Clark approaching her slowly. The heat wave, she realized. He was about to kiss her goodbye. Again, she shifted her focus to what she was feeling as he closed in on her. When he finally bent down to press his lips to hers, she found herself sighing into him. Again, his mouth was soft and warm over hers, and again, she found herself slowly filling with unmistakable desire from the connection between them.

This kiss, too, was over almost before it began. As he straightened up, she reached out and grasped his hand, realizing this action was certainly different from what had actually transpired that long ago evening. She needed to see his eyes again, though. And once again, she saw that myriad of emotions crossing his expression before he turned away. Once more, Lois closed her eyes.

This time, she was less than surprised to find her environment had shifted around her; she was, however, quite shocked to see not Clark, but Superman standing before her. It slowly registered that they were at the air field. He must have just returned from stopping Miranda from showering Metropolis with her pheromone spray, and was apparently under its influence, for he had just proclaimed his love for her.

She heard herself repeating her words from that afternoon. "I can't take advantage of you... Oh, what the heck!" She launched herself at him, and he caught her in is arms as their mouths merged.

It was by far the most passionate kiss she had ever experienced at that point in her life. Lips and tongues moved together, tangled and teased as she felt herself being bent backwards. She clung tightly to him as the kiss miraculously deepened. Again, she felt that pool of desire forming deep inside, an ache within her begging for release. This kiss seemed to go on forever, and she never wanted it to end.

And yet, end it did, as she was slowly returned to a fully upright position, the movements of their mouths slowing and finally ceasing as they parted. She lifted heavy eyelids to gaze at him in wonder, then gasped at what she saw there. He was obviously just as affected by their encounter as she had been, and there was no small amount of desire filling those warm, dark, and suddenly, strangely familiar eyes. As he released her, she again closed her eyes, this time in confusion.

Her eyelids slowly lifted to reveal... Clark, who was grabbing her and throwing her down on a soft bed before covering her body with his own. The honeymoon suite of the Lexor, she vaguely realized as his mouth came crashing down on hers.

There was no hesitancy in this kiss, only passion and that increasingly familiar feeling of overwhelming desire. Her response was almost immediate, and certainly equaling his in passion and heat. Her arms came up to form a circle around his neck, and a whimper escaped her as one of his hands explored her face while the other trailed a fiery path down the side of her body. The whimper became a moan as his hand moved back up, his thumb grazing the side of her breast. The rest of the world ceased to exist as she got lost in their mutual exploration.

And then, without warning, it was over. Clark was slowly dragging himself away from her and she let her arms fall slack to her sides. She opened her eyes as she slowly sat up, but was disappointed to find that Clark wasn't facing her. She needed to see his eyes, to know what he was feeling in the aftermath of that incredible encounter. She swung her legs off the bed and stood, somewhat shaky, crossing over to where he stood at the end of the bed.

He still wouldn't meet her gaze, instead busying himself with their previous task of setting up the surveillance equipment. She reached over and turned him towards her, having to take his face in her hands to lift it from its downward cast. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, he raised his eyes to meet hers.

To her dismay, the first thing that she saw was fear, followed immediately by a poignant longing. She summoned up her courage and offered him a warm smile, delighted to see his features relax into an answering grin. Other emotions began to filter into his gaze as they continued to stare wordlessly at one another. That same longing and hope, mixed with no small amount of need and desire. She felt her blood begin to warm again, and she closed her eyes to savor the feeling.

When Lois opened her eyes once more, she found herself once again standing face to face with Superman.

"We'll go flying together," she heard him say.

"I hope so," she replied.

"Count on it." She watched as resolute determination filled his features. "I've got to go."

Summoning every bit of courage that she had left in the face of the impending disaster her dream had recalled, she stepped in closer to him, her voice so soft only his enhanced hearing could pick it up. "Good luck," she murmured before pressing her mouth to his.

His arms came around her right away, and she was delighted to feel him responding in equal measure to her mouth's caressing movements. Mixed in with her remembered fear and that ever-present sense of longing was that feeling of desire that was growing ever more intimate.

She was the one to break away from the embrace this time. She was strangely hesitant to look up into his eyes this time, for reasons that she couldn't quite grasp. When at last their eyes connected, though, she was immensely relieved to see his warm smile and undeniably tender longing in his eyes. She closed her eyes just as he turned away.

When she opened them, she found herself looking once again at Clark, sitting before her on that bench in the park. She started to speak.

"Clark?" But again, he silenced her immediately, his finger coming up to her lips.

"Please." There was as much of a plea in his eyes as his voice, and then came the inevitable. As his mouth came down on hers, she again gasped, wide-eyed, before letting her eyes drift shut. Once more she concentrated on all the emotions swirling through her mind and the almost violent feelings coursing through her body. So much pleasure it was almost painful. That now-familiar sensation of hot desire burning deep within, making her very blood feel like fire. Need and longing, fear and trepidation, hope and the most exquisite arousal she had ever known.

She felt him start to pull away, but this time she was not ready for it; she reached up with both hands, clasping his face and holding it to her own as her tongue dove deep inside his mouth. She was absolutely delighted by the guttural groan that rumbled deep in his chest, a sound she felt as much as heard. Then his arms wrapped around her as their tongues established a mind-blowing rhythm that almost kept pace with their thundering heartbeats.

After eternity came and went, Clark abruptly pulled back. Her eyes flew open and locked with his. There was no mistaking the red hot desire darkening his eyes into pools of blackness, and she was certain that the feeling was mirrored in her own gaze. They were both breathing heard, and she could feel his pulse pounding hard in the veins of his neck as she slowly disentangled her arms. He, too, slowly disengaged the rest of his body, his hands reluctantly releasing her waist after lingering for a few moments longer.

As their blood cooled, other emotions slowly began filtering in through the haze of desire still rich in his gaze. First came joy, followed quickly by a sort of wary hope. Fear trickled in, to be almost immediately swallowed by powerful longing. But underneath all of them was love. Pure, honest love, so strong it brought tears to her eyes.

Clark reached back to her with one hand, his fingers smoothing across her cheek. "Just think about it," he implored, his voice scarcely more than a whisper. Lois almost laughed this time. How was she supposed to think about anything else?

Clark stood, his hand only dropping from her face as he slowly turned and walked away. Once again, Lois sat there for a very long time, trying to collect her thoughts, cool her blood, filter her feelings, and calm her raging hormones. When she finally felt as though she had some semblance of control, she let her eyes drift shut.

When she opened them this time, she wasn't surprised to find herself standing in her own living room, her hand on the shoulder of her beloved caped superhero as he was slowly turning to face her.

"This is it, isn't it?" she heard herself ask. "This is goodbye." She swallowed hard against a rather large lump in her throat.

"I'll always be your friend, Lois. No matter what." Superman's voice was soft and low; almost, she thought, as if he were afraid it would crack the way hers had threatened to all night.

She stepped in closer to him, her hand slowly making its way across his shoulder and around behind his neck. She felt him tremble slightly as she tilted her head up towards him. She watched, fascinated, as his eyes filled with tender longing before slowly drifting closed as he lowered his mouth to meet hers in this final farewell kiss.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, it registered that this really would be the final kiss of this strange journey, and so she poured her heart into it. Once more, that potent blend of desire and need filled her, consuming her this time as their lips melded and merged. Her tongue darted out to capture one last taste of him, eliciting a low moan from both of them as he responded in kind.

Suddenly, though, it was over. He tore his mouth away from her, his breathing ragged as her eyes fluttered open to take in the sight of him one more time. Again there was that longing, as exquisite as it was heart-wrenching. A tear slipped down her cheek at the image of this powerful man looking so utterly helpless, and, for the first time that night, hopeless. His hand started to come up, but then something shifted in his eyes, and he spun around, floating silently out the window into the dark night.

Lois stood there staring, unseeing, until the cool night air began to seep through her thin gown. She reached up and closed the window, fastening the latch with a sense of finality. She stepped back and closed her eyes one last time.

~~*S*~~

Lois awoke suddenly, her eyes snapping wide open. She looked around in the darkness until she spied the alarm clock beside her bed, informing her that it was ridiculously early and that she was indeed in her own room. She lay there for a long time, the images and feelings of her dream replaying in her mind's eye.

Kissing Clark. Kissing Superman. Kissing Clark again.

All the longing. The need. The hope. The desire.

His eyes behind the glasses.

His eyes unencumbered by those lenses.

The way she responded to each and every one of those kisses.

_Oh, god._

_It was the same. It was always the same._

_It was always the same because he was the same._

_Clark and Superman were one and the same._

_Oh, dear god._

~~*S*~~


	2. Chapter 2

~~*S*~~

Chapter Two

~~*S*~~

Lois knocked softly on Clark's door, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for him to answer. When there was no response after several moments, she knocked again, much louder. Still nothing. She huffed in irritation, looking around to confirm that she was indeed alone, not surprising considering the early hour. Without a moment's hesitation, she pulled her lock pick from her pocket and quickly let herself in.

The apartment was quiet, too quiet. She made her way to his sleeping area and found his bed empty, although the covers were thrown back, indicating he had been to bed but had been drawn out sometime during the night. She glanced towards the balcony as it slowly occurred to her that he must have been called away as Superman.

She turned back to the bed and briefly considered the idea of slipping between the sheets to wait for him there. As much as she might have enjoyed the look on Clark's face upon his discovery of her there, she dismissed the notion as quickly as it came. They needed to talk, and that wasn't likely to happen if he found her waiting for him in his bed.

She left the room and wandered into the kitchen. She flipped on the lights, deciding that she needed some fortification for the impending conversation. She retrieved the needed supplies from his cupboard and started the coffee brewing. A few minutes later, she made her way back into his living room, settling onto the couch with a mug of the warm brew clasped between her hands.

No sooner had she taken her first sip did she hear the tell-tale whoosh of his arrival. She sat up straight, carefully setting the cup down on the coffee table as she waited for his entrance. She didn't have to wait long.

"Lois?" Clark emerged from the room clad in a t-shirt and a pair of dark shorts. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk," she answered, striving to keep her voice neutral.

"It's not even five in the morning," he replied, his brow slightly wrinkled in confusion.

Unable to resist temptation, she impulsively decided she wanted to watch him squirm. "Where were you?"

Squirm he did. "I, uh... I couldn't sleep... so I went for a walk."

She eyed him up and down, noting his bare feet with amusement. "I see," was all she said in reply.

Clark walked around to sit beside her on the couch. She realized that he was nervous when she saw him swallow reflexively. She wondered if he felt anywhere near as nervous as she did.

"So..." he began slowly, as though uncertain how to approach her. "You want to talk?"

She nodded, reaching over to pick up her cup and take another sip as she considered her words. Although a thousand conversations had played through her mind on her journey here, she still wasn't quite sure where she should begin. After taking a second sip, she returned the cup to the table, turned back to face him, and took a slow, steadying breath.

"I couldn't sleep, either. I guess I had a lot on my mind after yesterday."

Clark nodded. "I guess we both did," he replied.

"It took me forever to fall asleep... and then I suddenly woke up after having the strangest dream." She took another deep breath, summoning up all her courage before she continued. "I'd been dreaming about all the kisses we've shared." Lois paused as she heard Clark suck in his breath.

"It started with that very first one. Do you remember? We were on Trask's plane." She watched him nod, his eyes clouding for a moment; she guessed he was recalling the event. "It may have been a ruse, but... there was nothing fake about that kiss. It was very real. And it affected me a whole lot more than I let on... The next thing I knew, I was in the newsroom of the Planet, during the heatwave. When you tried to resign. You kissed me goodbye."

Again she paused, watching the memories replay in Clark's eyes. "I never told you how that made me feel. It confused me, really. I thought I knew exactly how I felt about you, but as I watched you walk away that night, as I thought about never seeing you again... It broke my heart... though I never could admit it, even to myself, until now."

Once more, Lois broke off, needing again to summon her courage for this next part. She knew that after she revealed the next event in her dream, he would realize that she knew... everything. She closed her eyes, silently praying that her voice would remain steady as she revealed her newfound knowledge to him.

When at last she opened her eyes, she met his gaze dead on. "And then, I found myself standing at the air field." She smiled wryly before continuing. "I'm afraid I didn't quite have your will power, and I barely hesitated before taking full advantage of the fact that you were under the influence of that pheromone stuff. I threw myself into your arms, and we shared the most passionate kiss I'd ever experienced."

She stopped and watched the surprise fill his features. He shook his head and opened his mouth as if to speak before snapping it shut. He sighed as resignation took over, causing Lois to offer a reassuring smile before she continued.

"Then we were in the honeymoon suite at the Lexor. You threw me down on the bed and kissed me... and to my shock and amazement, it was even more passionate. It completely overwhelmed me. I couldn't not kiss you back with every bit as much passion. You have no idea what it took for me to pull myself together after that maid left. And the way you went right back to work, so completely nonchalant, as if it hadn't affected you in the slightest... Let me tell you, that drove me nuts!"

For the first time since he had arrived to find her waiting for him, Clark smiled, and it sent a shiver racing through her entire body. Still, she pressed on, determined to share every moment with him. "I was definitely more than a little confused when I found myself with Superman again after that. It was right before you went up to destroy that asteroid, remember?" At his nod, she continued. "And then... we were at the park. You kissed me, and I kissed you back... And if I thought the kiss in the honeymoon suite had been overwhelming, it was nothing compared to the way I felt yesterday afternoon... Anyway," she paused to clear her throat. "And then, after it was over, everything changed again..." She paused one more time, swallowing hard before finishing her tale. "And I was back in my apartment... saying goodbye to the fantasy I've been clinging to for the past year." She expelled a long sigh, one that Clark echoed.

"Lois, I-"

"You know," she interrupted, "you can take off your glasses," which she did, setting them on the coffee table beside her abandoned cup. "You can slick back your hair," she continued as she reached up to brush those silky strands back from his face, "You can completely change the way you look, the way you sound, even the way you act... but one thing never changes. The way you kiss... it's always the same. And the way those kisses made me feel... the way I responded... It was the same. Every time."

Clark shook his head, a quiet chuckle emanating from deep in his chest. "You know, I never thought I'd give myself away by kissing you."

"I'm glad you did," she told him, then laughed at the surprise on his face.

"Really?"

"Really. And you know what else? I'm glad you came to see me tonight as Superman."

"I think that was the hardest thing I've ever done. I hated hurting you." The pain in his eyes made her reach out to touch his cheek.

"I know. But you want to know the really surprising part? It didn't hurt nearly as much as I'd expected. I guess I finally realized that Superman really was just a fantasy. That's all he ever was, isn't it? The real man is the one underneath the suit. My partner and the best friend I've ever known."

Clark reached up to place his hand over hers, and she turned her hand to thread her fingers through his. They slowly lowered their joined hands to rest in the small space between them. Clark studied that physical connection between them for a quiet moment before bringing his gaze back to her.

"I always figured you'd be pretty mad at me when you found out," he told her quietly.

"So you did plan on me finding out eventually?" Her tone was harsher than she intended, and she winced at the hurt that flickered across his face. Still, that was one question that had continued to plague her after she had come to realize the truth.

"Yes!" His answer was immediate. "Truth be told, I've wanted to tell you practically from the beginning, but..."

"I didn't exactly give you much reason to trust me in the beginning, though, did I?"

"I guess I was afraid you'd run straight to Perry with the story of Superman's true identity... but only in the earliest days. You showed me pretty quickly that you really did have Superman's best interests at heart."

Lois regarded him, both amused and perplexed. "Do you always refer to yourself in the third person?"

He laughed, the sound sending little tingles of pleasure coursing through her. "It drives my mom nuts. But it helps me keep things sorted out in my own mind. Plus it helps keep me from slipping up, you know?"

Lois nodded, beginning to understand this complex man a little better. "I guess I didn't help matters much by continually fawning over Superman like some moon-struck cheerleader. Especially when I practically ignored you, even though you were only ever a good friend to me. It's a wonder you don't hate me, considering the way I've treated you."

Clark's hand tightened around hers. "I could never hate you, Lois."

She smiled as she squeezed his hand back. "You really are the most amazing man I've ever known."

"So... you're really not mad?" The warm concern in his eyes made her heart somersault in her chest.

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be mad eventually. I mean, let's face it. When you get right down to it, you made me think that you were two different people, and you did that by lying to me, repeatedly... And the truth is... that hurts."

Clark winced. "Which is going to be worse than mad, isn't it?"

Lois sighed. "I don't know. Honestly, I'm not really sure how I feel right now. I mean, I thought I was confused before, thinking I was in love with one man, and all the while falling slowly in love with another. Now it turns out that they're the same man and..." Lois trailed off, uncertain what to say next.

"In love?" Suddenly, so much hope filled Clark's eyes that it literally took her breath away.

When she could breathe again, she let out a quiet sigh. "I'm not sure how or when it happened, but... somehow, you managed to earn my trust, you commanded my respect, you slipped past every last one of my carefully constructed defenses... and you stole my heart."

The warmest smile, radiating with the purest love she had ever witnessed, slowly stole over Clark's features. He reached out and pulled her into his arms in a tender embrace. She wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging tightly as though she were afraid to let go.

"I love you, Lois," he whispered into her ear, his warm breath tickling the sensitive skin there and arousing that same potent sense of desire that his kisses had earlier inflamed. "I know you need time to sort through all this...and I just want you to know that I'll gladly give you all the time you need."

Lois closed her eyes as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, marveling at the way he always knew exactly the right thing to say, exactly what she needed to hear.

Clark pressed a soft kiss just below her ear, eliciting a gasp from Lois. He repeated the action, and after she again sucked in a sharp breath, she returned the gesture. A low moan rumbled through Clark's chest, a sound she heard as much as felt. She lifted her head to gaze into his eyes. For the first time, she felt absolutely no fear, only wonder at the dark desire she saw burning n the depths of his eyes. It was a desire she knew was mirrored in her own, and it was exactly what she needed to see to push her over the edge and past any lingering fears. She moved to close the infinitesimal distance between them, sighing into his mouth as they merged together.

Their kiss began slowly, a gentle exploration that stole her breath and left her slightly dizzy. She leaned into Clark as she pressed her mouth more firmly against his. He tilted his head and pulled against her lower lip, sucking gently and causing her to gasp for air. A throaty moan escaped her as she closed her mouth around his upper lip, sucking him in the same way he had drawn her in. An answering moan rumbled through him and he began gently pressing her back into the couch. She held onto him as she felt her head connect with the soft armrest, then let herself relax into the cushioning as he moved over her.

One of his hands began trailing down the side of her body, and she moaned again as he grazed the side of her breast on his slow descent down her body. She let her hands begin trailing down his back, reveling in the feel of the strong muscles there.

Their kisses gradually deepened, and again she sighed into him as his tongue began tracing the contours of her lips. She opened her mouth beneath him, sliding her tongue forward to catch a taste of him. When he moaned low and deep in response, she felt suddenly emboldened and slid her tongue deep into his mouth.

His response was immediate, and that slow exploration abruptly shifted into a heated duel of lips and tongue. She thought she'd never get enough of him, his taste, his touch, even the very scent of him. She was rapidly losing any semblance of control, and where this would normally have frightened, even terrified her, with Clark, she felt incredibly safe, free to give in to the wild surge of desire that raced hot through every vein in her body.

His hand slid back up her body, and when his questing fingers slipped beneath her sweater to glide across her bare skin, she trembled. An undeniable ache began to form deep inside her, settling low in her belly as his hand continued to slide up her torso. When his fingers found the soft, sensitive skin of the underside of her unbound breast, he groaned. It hadn't been a conscious decision to forgo a bra in her hurry to dress this morning, but she was suddenly quite glad she had.

The movement of their mouths slowed down as Clark began tentatively exploring the delicate skin beneath her sweater, allowing Lois precious moments to catch her breath. Her own hands, meanwhile, had found the hem of his t-shirt, and she began pulling it up so that she, too, could enjoy the feel of his bare skin. She worked strong fingers into the solid muscles she encountered, drawing out another groan from her partner. She continued pulling his shirt ever higher, until he suddenly pulled away from her, grabbing his shirt with his free hand and pulling it over his head, dropping it on the floor beside the sofa. Then his mouth was right back on hers, and she moaned happily as her hands found their way to his back once more, now free to explore every inch of his hot flesh.

Then his hand cupped her breast, and she arched up into his touch, eager for ever-closer contact. His other hand, which had managed to get tangled in her hair, slid downward to begin pulling her sweater up. Eager to assist, she slid her hands around to catch hold of her sweater. Together, they pulled it higher and higher, until they had to break apart once again, just long enough to remove the garment completely. It, too, fell to the floor, immediately forgotten as inflamed skin met skin.

This time, instead of rejoining his mouth to hers, he began trailing fiery kisses along the side of her throat, slowly moving down as his hand again found her breast. Now, though, his hand gently massaged her before his fingers began moving, circling her until his thumb found her hardened nipple. Still his mouth continued lower, across her collarbone, then down the valley between her breasts; all the while, his thumb continued circling her fully-aroused nipple.

As his mouth and fingers worked their magic, Lois entangled her fingers in his soft hair, her moans and whimpers encouraging him to continue exploring her body. At last, his lips enclosed around her other breast and he slowly drew that puckered nipple into his mouth, sucking gently at first before grazing his teeth across the sensitized flesh. She cried out his name.

Clark nibbled her sensitive flesh before again sucking her into his mouth, his tongue swirling around and around. Lois continued playing with his hair, moaning her appreciation of his labors of love. After endless moments, he began trailing kisses across to her other breast, his hand coming to replace his mouth on the one he had just left. As he began treating this breast to the same lavish attention, Lois let her hands trail back down his back as low as she could reach.

She was completely lost in sensation by the time he finally released her breast and made his way gradually back up to capture her mouth in a long, slow kiss filled with the most tender passion Lois had ever known. Lips fused together as tongues danced to the age-old rhythm of lovemaking. She pressed herself as tightly to him as she could, and Clark began pulling her upward until they were once again in a sitting position; her legs had wrapped around him and she gasped when she felt the evidence of his arousal pressing into her through her jeans.

"Clark!" Her sudden exclamation brought his movements to an abrupt halt, and he pulled back to look at her, concern filling his features.

"Too much?" he asked, his voice husky with unspent passion.

"No!" She shook her head with a reassuring smile. "It's just... I don't think this couch was designed with this in mind... Maybe we could go somewhere with a little more room—Mmmmph!" He had stopped her by suddenly standing, holding her tight in his arms. She clung to him fiercely as he took them to his bed. He carefully laid her down, straightening back up to gaze down at her in wonder. She had never felt more beautiful than she did at that moment, with this incredible man gazing down at her with an expression of awe and joy.

As he continued to stare, she let her eyes trail down his body, marveling at the exquisite sight before her. He truly was the most most perfect specimen of man on the planet, his body sculpted in excellent proportion. Her eyes caressed those well-defined muscles across his chest, down his well-formed abs, and then she gasped as she took in the generous bulge scarcely concealed by the material of his shorts. She brought her eyes back up to meet his, stretching her hand out to him with an encouraging smile.

He took her small hand in his much larger one, entwining their fingers together as he lowered himself to the bed. Their hands came to rest alongside her head as he stretched out beside her, his gaze never wavering from hers as his other hand came up to stroke her cheek with a gentle touch. She leaned her head into his hand with a sigh of pure contentment.

"So beautiful," he murmured in reverent tones, making her smile grow so wide she was almost afraid her face would split.

"You're pretty incredible, yourself," she told him, her voice more than a little breathless. He smiled back, his face glowing. After another quiet moment, he brought his mouth back to hers.

Once again, their kisses began slow and tender, and once again, their passion quickly took over, igniting flames of desire that spread through every inch of her body. His hand moved past her cheek, his fingers sliding into the silky tresses of her hair for a moment before he started another fiery descent down her throat. He grazed her breast, but this time he didn't pause for even a second in his downward journey. A soft giggle escaped her as his fingertips gently caressed her belly, tickling her sensitive skin.

He started to hesitate when he reached the waistband of her jeans, but a throaty moan of encouragement from Lois was all it took for him to move his hand to the snap that held them closed. He fumbled slightly when her hand slid down his back to cup the firm muscles of his posterior, but he soon managed to release the catch and slide the zipper down.

Forgoing panties, something she almost never did when wearing jeans, was suddenly the most brilliantly bold move of her life, she decided as his hand slipped inside the denim. In response, she moved her own hand to slide beneath the fabric of both his shorts and the briefs he wore beneath to glide across the smooth skin of his rear.

Clark groaned at the contact, pressing more firmly into her and drawing out another gasp from Lois as she felt the heat of his erection pressing into her thigh. Then his hand slid through the tangle of curls above the juncture of her legs, slowly moving lower and lower until she felt the heat of his fingertips pressing into her aroused flesh. She moaned as she tilted her hips up, wordlessly begging him for more.

His fingers pressed more firmly into her, parting those outer folds to find her slick, wet, and more than ready for him. He began gently exploring the soft, silky flesh there, stroking up and down, starting with short strokes that gradually lengthened until his questing fingertips found that most sensitive nub. She groaned as he continued to fondle her, his finger circling slowly at first, then quickening as she began to tremble and writhe beneath him.

All the while, their mouths continued to move together, practically fusing into one as lips and tongues tangled and teased. Lois let her hands continue to explore every inch of his flesh that she could reach as his deft fingers brought her closer and closer to the edge of ecstasy. That deep ache in her belly grew exponentially when she felt him slide a finger inside of her, his thumb maintaining the rhythmic pressure against her. After an endless moment, she felt the tell-tale tingles begin to spread through her just before the world exploded in sparks and light as she flew over the precipice into delirious oblivion.

His hand slowed and finally stopped moving, though he didn't withdraw from her as her breathing gradually returned to something close to normal. Her eyes slowly fluttered open to meet his warm, loving gaze.

She opened her mouth once, then twice, then a third time before she could finally form a word: "Wow."

Clark smiled and chuckled softly, pressing his lips to hers once more in a tender kiss. "Good?" he asked as he pulled back to gaze at her again.

Still unable to find words, she simply nodded, lifting her head to capture his mouth in an equally tender caress. As they parted, Lois experimentally squeezed her muscles around his finger, still embedded deep inside of her, making Clark groan. Her hand, which had come to rest against on the flesh of his backside, began to move around to his front until she felt the heat of his shaft on the back of her hand. She twisted her wrist so that she could feel his length pressing into her palm.

As Clark moaned his approval, Lois used the length of her body to push him back into the bed. The movement forced his hand to withdraw from her, and she whimpered softly at the loss of contact before focusing her attention back on the heated flesh beneath her hand. She gently encircled him and began sliding her hand down his ample length, then back up, watching his face as his eyes drifted shut, a look of utter bliss filling his features. As she slid her hand back down, she tightened her grip around him, evoking a throaty moan. She relaxed her hand on its return journey back up. As she slowly continued this pattern of contracting and relaxing as her hand stroked him, she began placing warm kisses along his throat.

As she lavished kisses across his chest, she began to trace circles around the tip of his member on each upward stroke, then matched the motion with her tongue as she reached his nipple. Clark's hand found its way to the back of her head, his fingers delving into her hair and massaging her scalp as she tendered her ministrations to his body. His passionate moans encouraged her, and Lois had never felt so thoroughly aroused; ironic, she thought, considering the ecstasy he had just treated her to.

Her mouth continued its quest across his chest, finding his other nipple as her hand kept working its magic. Then she began working her way lower, pausing when she reached his navel. She flicked her tongue out to circle it, then dipped it in to that small opening, causing his muscles to flex in response. She repeated the action, squeezing him firmly with her hand as she did so. A powerful groan rumbled through Clark, making her smile.

She kept kissing him, moving her mouth in descent across the slight trail of hair that led downward, her free hand moving to slide his shorts and briefs down his legs, exposing him to her fully. She lifted her head for a moment to glance up at him, delighting in the look of rapture on his face, before dropping her head back down.

Her lips closed around the tip of his engorged shaft, her tongue sliding out to taste the drops of moisture at his opening. His hips bucked up sharply, thrusting his shaft deep inside her mouth. She let her hand slide down to the base of him as she opened up to take him deep into her throat. He slowly dropped back down to the bed, and as her mouth slid back up his length, she pressed her tongue into the sensitive vein that ran the length of his arousal. When she reached the tip once more, she used her tongue to swirl around and around him, finding herself growing increasingly turned on by his responses.

She quickly established a rhythm with both her hand and mouth, then brought her other hand to gently cup the heavy sack beneath his shaft. She rolled the delicate balls inside between her fingers before sliding her hand ever so slightly lower, pressing her thumb into the flesh just beneath. Clark groaned again, louder and deeper, as his hand gripped her head more firmly.

After only a few minutes of this attention, Clark tried to pull her head back. "Lois..." His voice was scarcely more than a whisper. "Lois, please... if you don't stop now..."

"Mmm-mmm," she replied, her mouth still around him, the vibrations of her voice sparking another guttural moan of pleasure from Clark. Unable to fight her, his hand relaxed in her hair. His whole body began to tremble beneath her, and she knew his release was immanent. Her hand contracted around him as tightly as she could as her hand road his length faster and faster. Her lips closed tightly about his tip as she sucked hard. He growled out her name as he finally reached his climax. She sucked in every last drop of his hot, silky fluid as he convulsed beneath her. When at long last he collapsed beneath her, she finally released him, gently trailing her hands back up his body as she moved to capture his mouth with her own in a delicate kiss.

Lois drew back slowly, thoroughly enjoying the look of bliss on Clark's face as his eyes slowly opened to lock with hers. His hand, still tangled in her hair, began to flex gently before sliding around to caress her cheek, his thumb smoothing across her bottom lip.

"Lois," he said softly, "that was..." He sighed as he struggled for words. "I've never... I mean..."

She chuckled at his struggle, able to identify all too well with the mind-numbing aftermath of that experience. She took mercy on him, kissing him again. "I know," she murmured into his mouth.

He slowly kissed her back, taking his time to explore once more every crevice of the warm mouth that had just pleasured him so intimately. He rolled forward to press her into the bed beneath him as their kisses intensified once again. Lois gasped, then moaned as she felt him growing firm against her belly. She arched into him, and he pressed more firmly into her in response.

"They don't call me Superman for nothing," he said into her mouth as he kept kissing her.

"This," she said between kisses, "is better... than every fantasy... I've ever had... about Superman... and Clark... combined..."

That comment brought Clark up short. He gazed at her with eyes full of wonder. "You fantasized about me? I mean, Clark?"

She nodded and smiled, feeling suddenly and inexplicably shy as a graceful blush stained her cheeks. "That kiss in the honeymoon suite? I dreamed about it every night for the next week... and whoever said only guys can have wet dreams was absolutely dead wrong."

The smile that filled Clark's face was filled with so much joy that it brought tears to her eyes.

"Oh, Lois," he breathed. "Just when I think I couldn't possibly love you more..." He dipped his head down to kiss her, and she knew he was pouring all of his love, his heart, his very soul into that kiss; she responded in equal measure, holding nothing back.

"You were afraid I'd only love you for the superpowers, weren't you?" she asked when he finally pulled back.

He cast his eyes downward, seeming somewhat shamed. "I know you're not that shallow, but... You just never seemed interested in the ordinary guy... and that's all I really am."

Lois reached up to tilt his face back up to hers, waiting to speak until his eyes finally met with her own. "There is absolutely nothing 'ordinary' about you, Clark Kent. You are the most extraordinary man I've ever known." When she saw a shadow of doubt linger in his gaze, she continued. "It's not what you can do, it's what you choose to do that makes you so incredible. Most men would undoubtedly use those amazing abilities for personal gain, but not you."

"Well," he replied, a smile coming back to his face and lighting his eyes, "like I've told you before, Lois. I'm not most men."

"You certainly aren't," she agreed, lifting her head to kiss him. Any further words were lost as he kissed her back, deeply and lovingly. Just as passion began to consume them, though, the phone rang, startling them.

"Who on earth would be calling you at this hour?" Lois asked in an exasperated tone. Clark just shook his head, shrugging his shoulders before reaching across her to pick up the phone on his nightstand.

"Hello?" As he answered, Lois started kissing his neck, just below the ear that had the phone pressed into it. She watched, amused, as Clark swallowed hard before speaking again. "Hi, mom." She tried hard to choke back the bubble of laughter at the blush that filled Clark's entire face. "No, it's not too early... I've been up-" he had to pause because Lois chose that word to thrust her hips into him, "-for a while now," he managed to continue in a slightly choked voice. This time she couldn't contain the giggle, causing Clark's blush to grow a deep shade of crimson.

"Yes, that was Lois," he said into the phone, and Lois was pretty certain that the blush staining his face couldn't possibly turn any deeper. "Well, kind of... Dinner? Hold on." He moved the phone aside, turning to Lois. "Would you like to go have dinner with my folks tonight?"

"I didn't know your parents were in town," she replied, her hands wandering across his back.

"They're not," he answered in a somewhat strangled voice as she found his bottom and squeezed, pressing him into her.

"Then how... Oh," she said as realization dawned on her and her eyes lit up. "Oh! I'd love to!"

Clark swallowed hard again as he tipped the phone back up to his mouth. "We'll be there. See you tonight, love you," he finished in a rush, barely managing to disconnect the line and absently dropping the phone as he turned back to the teasing woman beneath him. "That," he growled," was not nice."

"I never claimed to be nice," she retorted with a mischievous grin.

Clark shook his head with a wry grin. "And I wouldn't have you any other way," he replied before capturing her mouth in such a passionate kiss that her head started to spin.

Lois wrapped her legs around him, using her feet to slide his neglected garments down his legs. He shifted slightly to kick them the rest of the way off, then lifted his body up to reach between them, tugging at her jeans to pull them down. She let her legs drop back down, reaching with her own hands to assist him in divesting her of the unwanted fabric, lifting her hips as the material slid down. He finally had to break off the kiss, just long enough to rip the denim down her legs, finally discarding the jeans onto the floor. As he moved back up, he slid his body along hers, his hands smoothing across her heated flesh until he was finally stretched out fully above her.

For a long moment, he held still there, staring into her eyes, a smile full of love and desire gracing his lips. She smiled back, pouring her heart out to him in wordless communion. Slowly, so slowly she thought for a moment that she might go mad with the longing that filled her, he lowered his mouth to hers.

As they ultimately connected, she felt his once again fully engorged erection slip between her legs. She spread open beneath him, pressing one leg straight against his as the other hooked around him. She titled her hips just a little until she felt the tip of him pressing against her ready entrance.

Their gazes still locked even as they continued to kiss, Clark slowly began pushing forward, sliding slowly inside her. She sighed into his mouth as he gradually filled her, delighting in the feel of him stretching her insides to accommodate him. At long last, he was fully buried to the hilt.

Lois contracted her muscles around him, making them moan together at the new sensations they were sharing. He began to move again, withdrawing as slowly as he had entered before plunging deep inside her once more. He moved his hands along her arms until their hands joined, fingers entwining. She met him thrust for thrust as their tempo began to increase. Her eyes drifted closed as she gave into the feelings that were fast overwhelming her.

They moved together in that dance as old as time, and she soon felt those electric tingles beginning to build up and spread throughout every nerve ending in her body. Again she cried out his name as she felt the world, the entire universe explode in an all-consuming burst of light and intense pleasure. As she convulsed around him, Clark let go of a throaty growl as he thrust deep inside her and chased her right over the edge into heavenly oblivion.

As his body shuddered with release, he rolled them so that she lay atop him. Their mouths finally separated as she collapsed on top of him, their breathing quite shallow and irregular for long moments. As their breathing finally slowed and their bodies began to cool, Clark floated them up, reaching beneath for a blanket to cover their bodies with. As they settled back onto the bed, he released one of her hands to cover them with the freed blanket, then gently stroked her head, gliding along her throat and coming to rest against her cheek. She sighed in complete contentment as he pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head.

"Love you," he whispered.

"And I love you," she whispered back. Still intimately joined, they drifted together into peaceful slumber.

~~*S*~~


	3. Chapter 3

~~*S*~~

Chapter Three

~~*S*~~

As consciousness slowly seeped in, the first thing Clark was aware of was being completely surrounded by Lois Lane. He released a deep sigh of contentment as he gently tightened his arms around her. He felt her begin to stir, then moaned when her soft lips grazed the delicate skin just below his ear. He brought a hand up to stroke her silky hair, reveling in their close contact. She shifted over him, lifting her head up to look down on him with eyes full of love and wonder.

"Good morning," she greeted him quietly.

"Best morning ever," he replied, pulling her head down to join their lips together. It was only then, as their mouths moved in sweet caresses, that he realized that he was rock solid inside her. He moved his hips up, bringing them impossibly closer, delighting in the low moan that rumbled through her chest.

One kiss became two, then three, then he stopped counting as she began rocking against him, driving their passion to new levels of intensity. He slowly eased himself out, then back deep inside of her, establishing a steady rhythm in mere moments. Hands began moving, exploring, as their bodies moved together.

When Lois pulled away from their kisses, Clark whimpered. His eyes fluttered open to watch as she raised her body up until she was straddling him, her hands gliding across his chest. He quickly took advantage of their new position, his hand dropping from her hair, down her torso to where their bodies were joined, deft fingers quickly finding that sensitive nub. Clark smiled broadly at the moans of pleasure that emanated from her as he manipulated her with his thumb.

After a few moments, she dropped back down to shower his face with kisses. He closed his eyes and savored every touch of her lips on his cheeks, his forehead, his eyelids, before their mouths once again merged together. It wasn't long before he felt his body tense with impending release. He sped up the movements of his thumb against her until it was literally vibrating with energy. He felt her gasp against his mouth as her whole body suddenly began to convulse around him, driving him straight into heaven as he exploded, pouring his very soul into her.

She collapsed on top of him, panting and trembling, small quakes continuing to shudder through her. He gently extracted his hand from in between them, wrapping it around her and holding her tight against him.

After a long while, he felt her laugh softly. "Now that is what I call a wake-up call!"

He answered with a soft chuckle of his own, pressing a tender kiss into her hair. Once again, she raised herself up to meet his gaze with those warm, loving eyes; for a moment, Clark thought he really had died and gone to heaven.

"I don't know about you," she finally said, "but I could really use a shower."

Clark smiled, running his hand up and down her back. "Want some company?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "I could help... scrub your back."

She giggled, dropping a sweet kiss on his lips before answering. "Sounds like a great idea." She kissed him once more before slowly lifting off him. They both whimpered softly as he finally slipped out of her body. Ever the considerate gentleman, he grabbed a handful of tissues off his nightstand and passed them to her before sitting up.

"I'll go get you a towel," he told her as he got out of bed. As he walked over to the closet to fetch that towel, he marveled for a moment at his utter lack of modesty as he paraded around nude in front of his new lover. It's amazing what love will do to a man, he thought to himself.

He walked back over to Lois and handed her the soft towel, amused that she apparently still felt somewhat modest as she wrapped the terrycloth around her body before walking towards his bathroom.

Once inside, Clark turned on the faucet to let the water warm up. He watched with love-filled eyes as Lois removed the towel and draped it over the bar next to his. He turned his attention back to the water, adjusting the temperature before motioning for her to enter first. She stepped under the spray, her eyes closing and a look of bliss settling across her features.

Clark stepped in to join her, closing the door behind him. The small compartment quickly filled with steam, slightly obscuring his vision and making her lovely form just a bit hazy, even though he wasn't very far away from her at all.

He watched in fascination as she tipped her head back to thoroughly saturate her hair under the hot spray. She opened her eyes to meet his as she lowered her head.

"Shampoo?" She asked softly.

Clark reached beside him and picked up the bottle. Instead of passing it to her, though, he opened it and poured the liquid into his own palm. He set the bottle back down before reaching up to rub the cream into her hair, working up a rich lather as his fingers massaged her scalp. Her eyes closed again as she smiled in appreciation.

After several minutes, he gently tipped her head back under the spray to rinse the shampoo away, then treated her to the same loving attention with the conditioner. Before rinsing that out, though, he pulled out a washcloth, pouring a liquid body wash into it and working up a good lather before applying it to her skin. He began at her neck, slowly working his way down her front, then pulled her in close as he reached around to scrub her back.

Clark couldn't contain the groan of sheer pleasure as her soap-slick flesh glided across his body. He moved the washcloth in slow strokes up and down her back, across her buttocks, then finally between her legs. She moaned, the sound low and sexy, as Clark gently stroked her with the soapy cloth. He didn't linger long, though, and began moving down her legs, sliding his body along hers as he dropped to a kneel before her. He worked his way slowly down one leg, then trailed back up the other.

He glanced up to see her eyes still closed, that same bliss still filling her features. As he reached the juncture between her legs, he let his fingers move free of the cloth to touch her skin to skin. Another throaty moan filled the stall as she arched her hips into his touch. The cloth dropped away, forgotten.

He gently nudged her back under the spray, still kneeling in front of her, still fondling her with loving fingers. He watched as the last of the suds were rinsed away, then used his free hand to clasp one leg around her thigh, lifting it up until it came to rest on his shoulder. He turned his head to place a kiss on the inside of her thigh, letting his lips glide across her wet skin until they found her hot center.

His tongue darted out for his first taste of her, his fingers spreading her flesh open before him. He slowly ran his tongue down the length of her, then pushed forward as deeply inside her opening as he could reach. He slid back out and up, up, up, until he found again that hypersensitive bundle of nerves at her apex.

"Oh, god, Clark," she moaned in response, her hands finding their way to clasp his head. He began circling her with his tongue before flicking it across her, over and over, faster and faster. Her hips began to move with him, thrusting and withdrawing as her body began to tremble. Sensing that she was close to fulfillment, he slipped a finger inside her, quickly sliding it in and out in matching rhythm to her pelvic thrusts. She went from trembling to shaking, moaning his name over and over, until finally, she began to buckle and convulse, the tiny muscles deep inside her constricting around his finger. He slowed his tongue's movements, then drew her in between his lips to suck gently as the tremors slowly subsided.

When at last she grew still, leaning heavily against him, he withdrew his finger from within her, sliding his hand up to curve around her waist as he stood up. He pulled her into him, supporting her weight fully in his strong arms.

As her eyes opened, she smiled, a sensual curve of her mouth that he found enthralling. "That was the most erotic thing I've ever experienced," she told him in a husky voice. "I'm going to have to work awfully hard to return the favor." Clark grinned, then groaned as he felt her press her body firmly against his. He was amazed that he was again so hard and ready for her.

Lois stretched up to capture his mouth in a greedy kiss, turning him so that he now stood under the hot spray. She pulled back, not moving until his eyes opened again to meet hers. If he were any other man, he might have felt intimidated by the predatory grin that lit up her eyes. Then she dragged herself down his body as she reached to pick up the neglected washcloth. As she stood back up, she ran one hand up his leg, pausing to catch him in a firm grip with her strong hand.

Still crouched before him, she glanced up with a wicked gleam in her eye. "You definitely deserve the name 'Man of Steel', don't you?" She squeezed her hand around him once before releasing him to stand upright once more. She picked up the body wash, applying a liberal amount to the wet cloth in her hand. She, too, worked it into a lather before she brought it up to wash his body.

She treated him to the same careful attention he had given her, gently scrubbing every inch of his front. As she worked the cloth across his chest, her other hand began sliding across his soapy flesh, gently kneading the strong muscles. When she had scrubbed all the way down to his hips, she reached out to take his shoulder and turn him around. She then began working her way across and down his back, missing not a single millimeter of skin. She kept moving lower and lower, across the well-defined muscles of his bottom, then down his legs and back up again. As she stood back up, she pressed herself into his back, wrapping her arms around him after dropping the cloth to the floor to once again be forgotten.

Clark turned around in her arms, sliding his hands up to clasp her head on both sides as he lowered his mouth to hers. Lips and tongues teasingly explored for a moment before she pulled away, that gleam ever present in her eyes.

As she reached between them to clasp him in her firm grip, Clark lowered his hands to her waist, lifting her up off her feet. She wrapped both her legs around his waist, using her hand to guide him into her as they came together to become one once more. He turned them around to press her into the wall as the water continued to rain down around them. They moved together, their grunts and moans of pleasure mingling in the steamy air. Hands and arms slid across silky wet flesh, further igniting the intense flames of desire as they sailed into ecstasy together.

The water began to cool around them as Lois slowly lowered her legs until her feet touched the floor. Clark felt himself slip out of her, letting go of a sigh of deep contentment and feeling fully sated for the first time in his life. He reached around Lois to turn the faucet off, then drew his hand up her back to gently cup her head, bringing her mouth back to his for a slow, loving kiss.

When at last they parted, Clark opened the door of the shower and retrieved their towels. Neither spoke, feeling no need for words in the afterglow. He stepped out, rubbing the moisture from his skin and watching Lois stand still for a moment, a hazy look of pure joy on her face. He extended a hand to her, and as she took it with her own, she finally moved out of the stall.

She began to dry herself with the towel but stopped short when Clark engaged his heat vision to caress her with gentle warmth. The water on her body evaporated into steamy wisps swirling all around her. He smiled as her eyes widened surprise before relaxing with a light of joy.

"Wow," she murmured softly. "That was... incredible!"

"I know," he agreed as he wrapped the towel low around his hips.

Lois pulled her towel around her own body, a slight frown creeping into her eyes.

"What's wrong?"Clark asked, immediately concerned.

"Nothing's wrong," she answered quickly, "it's just... I don't really have anything to wear," she finished, a light blush staining her cheeks.

Clark smiled, taking her hand and leading her back into the bedroom. He let go and went to his closet, extracting a couple of garments and passing them to Lois. "Here. You left these here a while back after one of our late-night stakeouts."

She glanced at the black trousers and the creamy blouse that were dangling from the hanger. "I wondered what had happened to these," she said with a wry grin. "But... um... I didn't exactly were any... undergarments over here... " She trailed off, raising shy eyes to meet his.

"Never fear," Clark told her, "Superman is here." With a proud gleam in his eye, he spun into the Suit.

Lois gasped. "Wow!"

"I've wanted to do that in front of you for a long time," he informed her, then dropped a brief kiss onto her open mouth. "Back in a sec."

He was true to his word, scarcely giving Lois time to blink before he was standing in front of her, two lacy garments dangling from his fingertips.

"You're blushing!" He smiled broadly, thoroughly enjoying the way her cheeks filled with a rosy glow.

"It's just the thought of Superman rifling through my underwear drawer," she told him.

He felt his own cheeks begin to warm. "I guess I wasn't really thinking about it... but hearing you say it out loud... it is a little..." he trailed off, not quite knowing how to finish the thought.

"Yeah," she agreed, stepping forward to take the articles from his hand and kissing him soundly.

"Mmmm...Lois..." His words were muffled against her mouth as she continued to kiss him. "If we don't stop... we're going to need another shower..."

She finally pulled back, that wicked gleam back in her eyes. "Would that be a bad thing?"

"No, not at all," he replied, dipping back down to kiss her. Before passion could overtake them again, though, Lois's stomach growled loudly. He pulled back with a chuckle. "I think we should get you some food first, though."

"I guess I am a little hungry," she replied. When her stomach growled once more, she giggled. "Famished is probably more accurate," she said with a crooked grin.

"You get dressed, I'll get food." He spun again, and when he stopped this time, he was clad in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. "Considering the hour, do you want breakfast food or lunch food?"

"Surprise me," she replied. "What time is it, anyway?" She turned her head towards the clock beside Clark's bed, her eyes widening as she took in the fact that it was already early afternoon. "Wow, time really does fly!'

"And so do I," he responded with a cheeky grin before he left the room. When he heard her laugh softly in response, he closed his eyes for a second to savor the musical sound.

He made quick work of preparing their meal, and by the time Lois emerged from the room fully dressed, he was setting their plates on the table.

"Impressive," she told him as she breathed in the mouth-watering aroma of the omelette's he had cooked for them. They sat down and began eating in companionable silence.

After she finished every last morsel on her plate, she wiped her mouth with her napkin, leaning back in her chair and sighing in complete satisfaction. "That was delicious," she told him, and he fairly glowed from her praise.

Wiping his own mouth, he stood and collected their dishes, super-speeding through the cleanup before sitting back down across from her. He reached a hand out across the table, smiling when she took it in her own.

"Lois," he began in a quiet voice, "I want you to know that this morning has been a dream come true for me."

"Me, too", she replied softly.

"I was beginning to fear we'd never get here..." Clark swallowed back a bubble of remembered dread before he finished. "Especially when you told me about... Luthor's proposal."

"Shh," she responded, gently squeezing his hand. "I don't even want to think about that right now."

He smiled, letting all his love for her shine through in his eyes. He took a deep breath before he continued. "There's a couple of things we should talk about, though." A questioning look came into her eyes, and he had to take another steadying breath before he could speak again. "First... there was something we kind of neglected to discuss before we... made love..."

When she frowned with worry and concern in her gaze, he squeezed her hand in an effort to reassure her. "It's just that we didn't exactly take any... precautions."

"Precautions?" Her frowned deepened for a split second before her eyes widened in realization. "Oh! Precautions... Um... actually... there's nothing really to worry about. I've been on the pill for a while. Not that I've been... active... in that department... just to keep my cycle regular, that's all," she added reassuringly.

He let out a sigh of relief, pulling her hand up to place a kiss across her knuckles. As he let their hands come back to rest on the table, he felt the need to take one more steadying breath as he mentally prepared himself to reveal his final secret to her.

"I haven't exactly been... active... either. The truth is... I've never actually..." he faltered for a moment, feeling strangely nervous and vulnerable. "This morning was the first time I've ever... been completely... intimate with someone." He watched, still feeling vaguely apprehensive as this new information was slowly absorbed by the woman sitting across from him.

"The first... You never...?" She couldn't seem to finish a sentence, which didn't exactly put his mind at ease.

"It's just that... I wanted, needed to be with someone who really knew me, all of me... So I waited until I found that someone I could share myself with completely. I really have waited all my life to find you, Lois... and I'm glad I did. I am so very glad you were my first and only. You were definitely worth the wait, believe me." Clark felt his heart constrict as he took in the sheen of unspent tears willing up in her beautiful eyes.

"Oh, Clark," she breathed at last. "I think that's the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me..." She paused, reaching up to swipe the tears away before they could trickle down her cheeks. "I really wish I had waited for you."

Clark finally let himself smile in relief. "It's okay, Lois. All those experiences made you the woman you are today, and I wouldn't change a thing."

She smiled, an embarrassed chuckle slipping past her lips. "There haven't been that many experiences," she told him. "And the few there were could pretty much all be summed up as federal disasters. I really wasn't very good at it."

"What?" Clark's eyes grew incredulous. "You are amazing! I couldn't possibly have wished for anything better. What we shared this morning... it beat every single one of my wildest fantasies hands down."

"Really?" He had to smile at the disbelief in both her eyes and her voice.

"Oh yeah," he told her, his voice nearly a growl. "You are the sexiest, most sensual woman I have ever known. No one has ever aroused such passion in me, such desire... such love," he finished, his voice growing husky with emotion.

"Oh, Clark... No one has ever loved me the way you do. And I've never been loved by anyone like you," she told him, her voice filled with as much emotion as his.

Clark stood and moved around the table, pulling her up into his arms. "I love you so much," he whispered into her ear. He pulled back just far enough to look into her warm brown eyes. "Your love is the most precious gift I've ever known." He lowered his head and touched his lips to hers. As she sighed into his embrace, he felt his heart fill with so much love he was certain it would burst right through his chest.

They parted slowly, their foreheads coming to rest together as they stared at one another in unspoken communion.

"Why don't we head out?" Clark said, breaking the silence after a while.

"Out?"

"To Smallville," he clarified.

"Isn't it a little early?" she asked.

"Well, it is a little later here than it is there, but if we go now, we can enjoy a long, leisurely flight." That brought a wide smile to her face that lit up her eyes. "And there's something there I'd like to share with you."

"Okay," she replied.

He stepped back from her and spun once again into the Suit, delighting in her broad smile.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching you do that," she told him with a smile.

He came back to her, lifting her up to gently cradle her in his arms.

"You know, you've never taken me flying just for the fun of it," she mused.

"Lois, I would be happy to take you flying anytime you like," he told her with a grin as he began to float upward. "It's funny," he said as they floated outside, "flying used to be my favorite activity."

"Used to be?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I discovered something I like even more, though... this morning." She laughed in delight, nestling her head into the crook of his neck as they began their journey.

~~*S*~~

Lois felt completely relaxed in Clark's arms as she gazed around at the landscape passing below them. She let her mind wander back through the events of the past twenty-four hours, marveling at how much things had changed, and how quickly. She had gone from utter confusion to complete clarity about what and who she wanted in her life.

Clark Kent. The seemingly simple farmboy was, in reality, the most complex man she'd ever known, and she knew she was only beginning to understand the kind of man he truly was. She really was looking forward to getting to know him all over again, to know the man who was both the "ordinary" guy and the extraordinary superhero.

The fact that he had chosen her, that he loved her above all others, was nearly overwhelming to consider. He could easily have any woman on the planet, and the fact that he chose to honor her with his incredible love was both humbling and empowering. In a moment of rarely acknowledged insecurity, she wondered how she could ever be his equal.

As the thought filtered through her mind, she realized that the superhero she had idolized for so long wasn't at all infallible. He had his share of faults, the same as anyone else, he just kept them carefully hidden from the world when he donned the guise of Superman. He had a fair dose of cockiness and arrogance lurking inside him, although those traits were usually kept well in check. He could be just as impatient and impertinent as she, and though he hid them well, he certainly had his own set of insecurities, too.

But he also had a wonderful sense of humor, and he was easily the most compassionate man she knew, something she had acknowledged even before she knew about his alter ego. Clark was also the kindest gentleman, endlessly considerate, friendly to everyone, and always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, a trait she secretly envied.

And besides being drop-dead gorgeous, he was by far the most passionate man she had ever been with. She felt her skin grow warm as she remembered just how passionate he had been this morning. The ways he had touched her, both physically and emotionally, had made her feel not only desirable, but also utterly cherished and beloved.

She reached up to touch her hand to his cheek, and he tilted his head down, meeting her eyes with a warm and loving gaze. She smiled, certain that she could see straight through to his beautiful soul in those dark chocolate pools. Feeling completely secure in his love, she let all the passionate feelings she held for this man shine through in her stare.

After an endless moment, she turned her head back out to the scenery below, realizing that they were approaching their destination as they began to descend. They slowly circled around the old farmhouse his parents called home, then gracefully came to a landing beneath a large tree a little ways away from the building.

When he set her down, she looked around her, taking in all the details of this place where Clark had grown into the man she now loved more than life itself. She imagined him tromping around, playing and exploring the open land around them, briefly wishing that she herself had had a chance to experience that kind of freedom as a child. When at last she turned back to look at Clark, she saw that he had been watching her with an indulgent smile.

"So why did we land here?" she finally asked.

"I told you I wanted to share something with you," he replied. "This is my Fortress of Solitude," he said, pointing up into the tree.

She tipped her head back to take in the old tree house of Clark's boyhood, then chuckled. "Funny... I had imagined Superman having something like that... but I always pictured something a little more... I don't know... foreign, I guess. Maybe a crystalline palace in the Arctic or something."

This time, Clark chuckled. "The only time I visit the Arctic is when I need a super-cold shower."

Lois looked back at him, arching an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah... I think I may have melted a few glaciers up there a time or two—thanks to you," he added. "Like that night you came over and performed the dance of the seven veils," he told her with a wink.

She felt her cheeks grow warm with the memory. "Oh, god, I tried to seduce Superman... and in that ridiculous costume, no less!"

"You almost succeeded, too, if you recall," he replied with a grin. "And don't knock that costume. You looked really...hot."

As her blush deepened, she glanced away, feeling inexplicably shy all of a sudden. She shook it off quickly, though, turning her head back to meet his eyes once again. "Actually... I still have it... I buried it in a box under my bed, but I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it for some reason."

Clark's grin grew wider, his eyes darkening with what she now recognized as lusty desire. "I hope you'll wear it for me again sometime."

Feeling emboldened by his response, she gave him a saucy grin of her own. "One of these day," she teased.

Clark took her hand in his then, placing his other hand on her waist as he floated them up towards his Fortress. They came to rest just inside, barely having enough room to sit side by side in the small room. Clark released her hand and reached behind her. When he brought his hand back around, it held a small globe, one she quickly recognized.

"Superman's globe!" she exclaimed. "So that's why you had it! I wondered what happened to it."

"I figured I needed to keep it someplace safe after I finally found it." Just then, it began to glow, then floated up out of his hand. As she stared in wonder, he spoke again in a hushed, almost reverent tone. "It's because of this that I know where I'm from, that I know anything about my origins."

After staring at it in awe for a moment, she finally turned her gaze back to Clark. "You mean... you grew up not knowing anything about where you came from, or...well, anything?"

He shook his head. "The first time I picked it up, only one thing happened. A word formed in my mind: Krypton. I couldn't explain it, but I knew that it was the name of the planet I had been born on. It was some time later before it revealed the story of how I came to be on Earth."

"How?" she asked, filled with that typical Lane curiosity.

"A hologram appeared. It was my birth father. Jor-El. Over the course of five different messages, he told me about what had happened to Krypton... it had exploded, and he and my birth mother, Lara, had sent me to Earth to save me from their fate. After nearly thirty years, I finally knew why I had been sent here. It was a relief to know that I hadn't just been abandoned... and that I wasn't the product of some horrible science experiment gone awry."

"Oh, Clark," she said softly, her hand coming up to cup his cheek. "What a horrible thought to carry around for so long." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, offering him some physical comfort when she could think of nothing else to say. She felt his hand come up to her head, smoothing around to the back to play with the soft hair at the nape of her neck. She couldn't stop the small moan of pleasure at the tingling sensations his touch wrought.

*My son.* They pulled away abruptly at the intrusion of an unfamiliar voice. *You are receiving this message because you have found the other half of your soul. I recorded this message scarcely hoping you would ever hear it after we sent you across the galaxies to Earth.*

Lois stared at the nearly-transparent image before them in amazement, recognizing Clark's eyes in the face of the older man in the hologram.

*To the woman who holds the heart of my son in her hands, I offer my sincere gratitude and appreciation. I wish for you both all the joy and love that his mother and I have shared through the brief years we shared. Know that the man who shares your soul is truly unique and special. He was a precious gift to us, one we offer to you now in the hope that you will treasure him as we have. He deserves nothing less than your purest and most unconditional love; know that he will return it in full as you share your lives. Love him as we have loved him, and you will find true happiness. May you be blessed with a long and rich life together.*

As the image faded and the orb dropped back down into Clark's hand, Lois let out a shaky breath, only then becoming aware of the tears that were flowing unheeded down her cheeks.

"Lois," Clark murmured, his hands coming up to smooth away the moisture on her face.

"Clark," she murmured just as softly as she met his tender gaze. They moved together and their mouths joined in the sweetest of kisses. They slowly drew apart after long moments, their breaths continuing to mingle as they leaned into one another. "Every time I think I couldn't possibly love you more, I learn something new about you that simply takes my breath away and fills me with even more love."

"I know exactly how you feel," he told her as he brought his mouth back to join hers once more.

~~*S*~~


	4. Chapter 4

~~*S*~~

Chapter Four

~~*S*~~

Lois held on tightly to Clark's hand as he opened the door to the kitchen.

"Knock, knock!" He called out as they entered.

Martha Kent was standing at the sink, wiping her hands on a towel as she turned to greet them with a warm smile. She set the towel down on the counter and walked over to embrace her son, and he wrapped his free arm around her to hug her back.

Lois watched them with a smile, feeling a brief pang of envy for the close relationship Clark shared with his parents. She knew she would never have that with her own parents, but as Martha turned to give Lois a gentle hug, she realized she could really get attached to the surrogate love Clark's parents so freely offered.

When they both pulled back, they shared a smile. "It's wonderful to see you again, Lois." Her eyes dropped down to their joined hands, then back up to look first at Clark, then Lois, with an all-too-knowing smile.

"Something you two would like to share?" There was a hint of laughter in her voice that complimented the twinkle in her eye.

"So that's where Clark learned his skills of observation," Lois mused aloud, making both mother and son chuckle.

Jonathan Kent chose that moment to make his entrance. Lois and Clark had to move further into the room to accommodate his generous stature. Father and son embraced, then Jonathan enveloped Lois in his trademark bear hug.

"Welcome back, Lois," he told her as they parted. "It's good to see you again."

"Clark and Lois have something to tell us," Martha said, her voice filled with barely contained glee.

"Let's sit down," Clark said, gesturing to the small dining set. After everyone was settled, he took a deep breath, lifting Lois's hand to place a gentle kiss there before resting their hands on the table. "Lois and I... we're together now. As a couple."

Martha beamed, and Jonathan let out a hearty laugh. "It's about time!" His mother's smile seemed to keep growing, and for a moment, Lois was afraid it might really split her face in two.

"I am completely in love with your son," Lois said softly after Jonathan's laughter subsided.

"Oh, Lois," Martha sighed, "I was wondering how long it would take you to see that," she continued in a wry voice.

"Mom!" Clark sounded slightly mortified by his mother's words.

Lois squeezed his hand. "It's all right, Clark. Your mother has a point. I turned a blind eye to you for a long time." She paused to turn and look back at his parents. "But my eyes are wide open now. I can finally see Clark for the amazing man he truly is." She was proud of herself for being able to keep her voice steady.

She felt Clark squeeze her hand just before speaking. "She knows," he said simply.

Jonathan's eye grew wide and Martha's smile grew impossibly wider.

"She knows?" Jonathan echoed.

Lois turned her gaze to meet Martha's. "The cape was a great idea," she said with a knowing smile.

"I knew it would look great when he's out there flying," Martha said proudly.

"It does, believe me!" When Martha reached a hand out across the table toward Lois, Lois had to swallow hard against a large lump that had suddenly grown in the back of her throat.

"Welcome to the family, Lois," Martha told her.

Lois blinked fast, fighting back tears. "Thank you," she said quietly. "You have know idea how much that means to me."

"Well," Martha said, her voice once again enriched with that hint of mischief. "I want details! How did you find out?"

Lois grinned. "I figured it out."

"I always knew you would," Martha told her. "You're a very smart young lady."

"She's brilliant," Clark chimed in, earning him a warm smile and a soft kiss from Lois.

"Yeah, well, if you had been able to keep your hands—or rather, your mouth—off me, God only knows how long it would have taken me to figure it out!" Lois delighted at the light blush that stained Clark's cheeks at her teasing. She turned her attention back to his parents once again. "He kissed me," she began.

"We'd kissed before. I've kissed Clark... and I've kissed Superman. But yesterday... Clark told me that he's been in love with me... from the beginning. And then he kissed me." She paused to look back at Clark, sharing silently their memories of that encounter. She turned back to Jonathan and Martha. "A few hours later, Superman came to see me. To say goodbye. He said... he told me that we could never have the kind of relationship I'd been fantasizing about. And then... we kissed."

Lois had to stop for a second, dropping her head down as she shook it with a wry grin. "Even then, it didn't quite sink in right away." She lifted her head, tilting it to meet Clark's dark gaze. "It wasn't until I woke up early the next morning... after dreaming about every single kiss I had shared with both Clark and Superman. And suddenly, I knew." Lois and Clark moved together at the same time, their lips meeting in the middle in a tender caress.

"Well," Martha spoke after a long moment, and they broke apart slowly, their gazes lingering on one another even as his mother continued speaking. "I, for one, couldn't be happier for the two of you."

"Thanks, mom," Clark replied, his eyes never leaving Lois.

"Me, too, son," Jonathan added. "You both deserve all the happiness you can get."

With a sigh of deep contentment, Martha finally stood up, turning from the table. "I'd better get dinner started," she said, breaking the spell that had settled between the two lovebirds.

"I'd offer to help, but I'm afraid I'm a total disaster in the kitchen," Lois said sardonically as she tore her gaze away from Clark's smiling face.

"I'd be happy to share a few tips with you in exchange for some cheese grating," Martha replied with a grin. "Think you can manage that?"

Lois laughed. "I think I might be able to do that without making a total fool of myself."

"Mom's an excellent teacher," Clark told her. "She's the one who taught me how to cook."

"Well, I just gave you the basics," Martha replied as she began retrieving ingredients from the refrigerator. "You took those and ran with them. All over the world," she added with a laugh.

Lois turned to Clark and quirked a single brow. "You traveled a lot, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I did. Had a bit of wanderlust after I graduated." His voice had softened, and Lois caught a glimpse of a little sadness deep in his eyes. She reached up to touch his cheek, and he turned to press a soft kiss into her palm. "I loved exploring the world, meeting new people, seeing new places, experiencing completely foreign cultures, learning about so many different ways of seeing and experiencing life... It was an amazing experience."

Seeing that hint of sadness still lurking behind his smile, Lois felt a pang in her heart that brought a sheen of moisture to her eyes. "But it was hard, too," Clark continued quietly. "I was always afraid I'd do something to... expose myself... I was always careful not to get too close to anyone, so even though I met a lot of really great people, making friends was never easy. I just never quite felt like I... belonged... I could be surrounded by people, and I yet I'd still feel... isolated." Clark sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. When he met Lois's stare, his eyes had warmed, all traces of his earlier sadness completely vanished.

"That all changed when I met you." Lois tilted her head to one side, a brilliant smile lighting up her face. She could feel all of her love for him radiating through her entire being. She stood up from the table, coming into Clark's open arms and wrapping hers around his neck as she bent down to capture his mouth in a deep, loving kiss.

They broke apart when Martha cleared her throat rather loudly and abruptly. Clark continued to hold her close as Lois stood back up. She let her hands wander across his hair as he rested his head in the curve of her waist.

"Clark, I think your dad needs your help out in the barn," she told the flushed couple.

"I do?" Jonathan asked, looking to Martha with a slight frown. Martha raised her brows, casting her eyes sideways and nodding her head towards the door. "Oh, yeah, I do. Just need a hand with that old tractor. Won't take long."

Lois and Clark exchanged curious glances before Clark finally stood up, slowly disengaging himself from her captivating body. "Sure, dad," Clark said absently, letting his hand linger at her hips for just a moment longer before finally turning away to follow Jonathan outside.

"We've all been waiting for this for a long time, Lois," Martha said after the men made their exit. "Clark has been so alone, all his life. Jonathan and I have always been there for him, but... by the time he reached adolescence, we knew it wasn't enough. We prayed that he would find someone who would love him for all of the many things that make him such a wonderful man. You're the answer to our prayers, sweetheart. And we couldn't possibly wish for better."

Lois sniffed, amazed to find her eyes watering up again. She had never been the weepy sort; she was pretty certain that she had shed more tears in the past twenty-four hours than she had in all of the years of her life. "I can't possibly tell you how much it means to me to hear you say that," she finally managed in a choked voice. "I promise you, I will do everything in my power to bring him all the happiness he deserves."

"And I know he'll do the same for you," Martha replied.

"He's not alone anymore, Martha," Lois told her quietly.

Martha clasped their hands together. "I know."

~~*S*~~

"I just need a lift so I can seal an oil leak. Won't take long." Jonathan walked over to his work bench to collect the necessary tools before coming to stand in front of his beloved old machine. He looked over at Clark for a long, quiet moment. "Don't think I've ever seen you look so happy, son," he said in a soft, deep voice.

"Don't think I've ever been so happy," Clark replied, the smile as rich in his voice as it was in his eyes. "She's everything I've ever dreamed of and more. She's... amazing." Clark chuckled softly. "If you had asked me yesterday, I'd have told you that I wanted Lois to love me as Clark... not Superman. Not the super powers, just the ordinary guy who happened to have these... unique abilities." Clark paused, turning his head toward the open door of the barn, through which the farmhouse could be seen. His smile turned soft as he spoke again. "She made me realize that I need her to love both. I need her to love me for all that I am. The truly amazing part is... she does."

"I couldn't be happier for you, son," his father told him, clasping his shoulder in a firm grip.

"Thanks, dad." The men exchanged smiles, and then Clark nodded over at the tractor. "So, where's the leak?"

~~*S*~~

"Compliments to the chef!" Clark lifted his glass in salute.

"Take a bow, Lois," Martha said with a grin.

Lois blushed. "I couldn't have done it without you literally holding my hand through every single step."

"That's how I started," Clark informed her.

"Then I definitely won't complain about the technique!" Lois reached over to give Martha a one-armed hug. "Thanks again," she told her as she sat back up.

"My pleasure," Martha told her. She grabbed Lois's hand and rose from her chair. "We'll let the boys clean up. I've got something to show you."

Lois let herself be led into the living room, laughing when she heard Clark mutter something about baby pictures.

"No, no baby pictures... not tonight, anyway," Martha said with a sly grin. She did, however, pull a photo album off a bookshelf before sitting down with Lois on the sofa. She opened it to the middle, and as the pages settled, Lois reached over to trace Clark's face in the first picture that caught her eye.

"He looks so young!" She giggled as she studied the picture. "It's a probably good thing I didn't know him back then... I would have gotten into so much trouble," she murmured, feeling a blush begin to warm her cheeks.

"He always was such a handsome boy," Martha said, her voice full of a mother's pride.

"And now he's a very handsome man," Lois returned quietly.

"He was seventeen in that picture," Martha told her before turning the page. The next photographs featured Clark engaged in various sports activities. "It was no surprise that he was a natural athlete. What really amazed us was not just his ability to control his powers, but his intuitive awareness of all the reasons he had for maintaining that control. He took the responsibilities of his powers very seriously, from the moment they began to emerge."

"The downside of that was... it left Clark feeling like an outsider all his life. He never felt like he fit in, and the truth was, he didn't. Not really. It was so hard to see... watching him trying so hard to be like everyone else, knowing that he never felt like he had succeeded." As Martha spoke, Lois felt like a spell were being woven around her. She looked carefully at each picture, seeing the young man who carried the weight of all those hidden secrets with such grace and dignity.

"Clark's junior year of high school, Jonathan and I were recruited to chaperon the winter formal. We did hesitate, but Clark assured us he was 'cool' with having his parents at the event. When he later told us it would be his first official date... well, I think we were more nervous than Clark." Martha paused, looking at Lois with a note of concern in her eyes. "I hope it doesn't bother you to hear about Clark's... high school sweetheart."

Lois smiled graciously. "I had my own high school sweetheart, so it's only fair for Clark to have had his. And now that you've piqued my curiosity, I want details!"

"Uh-oh, better watch out, mom!" The sound of Clark's voice behind her made her heart jump, skip a beat, then race into high-gear for a second. Then he came to sit down beside her, draping an arm across her shoulder and resting his chin on the other shoulder to look down at the album in his mother's lap. "That Lane curiosity can be dangerous," he said, his voice rumbling low in her ear and sending a shiver down her spine.

Martha laughed, turning the page to reveal several pictures taken at the aforementioned winter formal event. Lois smiled as she took in how well-developed his young physique had been, and how utterly adorable he looked in his dark suit, complete with his trademark tie, a bright purple stripe filled with dizzying geometric shapes that stood out in sharp contrast to his black button-down shirt.

"When Clark reached his teenage years, Jonathan and I braced ourselves for the storms that the raging hormones of youth invariably deliver." Lois turned to glance at Clark, noticing with amusement the deep blush now tinting his cheeks. Then Martha continued, her voice betraying a hint of sadness. "But they never came. We knew the girls were interested. It is a small town, after all. And eventually, we did ask Clark about it."

"It wasn't that the raging hormones weren't there," Clark said. "Believe me, they were," he growled, his mouth just below her ear. Her skin began to tingle. "But I was a lot more cautious about... exploring the wonders of the opposite sex. Truth is, I was terrified of losing control. And even then, I knew I could never become intimate with someone without being completely honest about myself."

Lois gazed at him, idling marveling for a moment that he was so comfortable discussing such an intimate subject with his parents. It was definitely a world apart from her relationship with her own parents.

"It all added up to a very frustrated young man," Martha continued. "And two concerned parents. So when Clark told us about Lana, well... we were relieved, but at the same time, we had a whole new set of worries."

"Lana?" Lois asked. Her eyes traveled across the images until landing on a portrait of Clark with a blonde teenager on his arm.

"Lana Lang," Martha answered. "She was a sweet girl, but... I'm sorry sweetheart," she said, looking over to Clark. "She just never did seem right for you." She looked back down at the album and she turned the page again. "When I first saw this picture," Martha said, touching the lone photograph in the center of the page, "I knew."

Lois looked down, slowly taking in every detail of that moment frozen in time. It was a dance floor, several young couples dancing close under soft lights. In the middle of the picture were Clark and the girl named Lana. She first noticed that they weren't standing nearly as close as the others around them. Clark had one hand resting on the girl's waist, the other clasped with hers. His posture was stiff and formal, as was the small smile on his face.

Then Lois looked at his eyes. There seemed to be a question lurking in the corners; his eyes seemed to be searching for something that was just out of sight, something he felt lost without. "Oh, Clark," Lois breathed.

Martha closed the album. "Flash forward a decade," she said as she stood up. Lois sucked in a long, slow breath. She felt Clark's arm tighten around her shoulder, and she leaned back into him, pulling his other arm around her.

Martha returned quickly with another album. "Shortly after landing his dream job at the Daily Planet, Clark brought his new partner home to meet us, just in time for the Corn Harvest Festival." She opened the album to reveal pictures from that day. Lois looked through the pictures with a nostalgic smile, letting her eyes linger on a picture of her walking with Clark, the teddy bear he had won for her tucked under her arm.

Martha finally turned the page, and, like the last album, a single image was centered on the next page. It was of her and Clark dancing.

From the angle the image was captured, it appeared that the two of them were completely alone in the universe. Clark's arm was slung low about her waist, holding her as close as it was possible without actually touching their bodies together. Their joined hands were tucked between their torsos, Clark's hand covering hers over his heart.

Filling Clark's face was a smile whose brilliance was outshone only by the delighted twinkle in his eyes. Lois turned her attention to the image of her own face, and what she saw took her breath away. She was smiling right back at Clark, a million-megawatt beam that could have lit up ten city blocks in Metropolis. Their faces were impossibly close to one another, and as the memory of that moment flashed brightly in her mind's eye, she couldn't believe she hadn't kissed him then. She turned her head and locked lips with him, determined to make up for lost time.

When Martha cleared her throat in a none-too-subtle reminder of her presence, Clark pulled back, a slightly sheepish smile on his face. "The best part of this one is," She told them, finishing her story, "even before I took the picture... I knew. Clark had finally found you."

"He found me when I wasn't looking..." Lois's voice was hushed and filled with barely restrained emotions. "I'll never make that mistake again," Lois vowed. She bent her head to touch her forehead to Clark's. "I am so glad you found me, Clark."

"So am I," he replied softly, sealing their avowals with a kiss.

~~*S*~~

After saying goodnight to his parents, Clark led Lois outside. They stopped as they left the porch. Lois turned her gaze up into the sky. "It's a full moon," she noted quietly. Clark moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling her neck. She moaned her appreciation, arching her neck to one side to allow him greater access. She sighed as he showered her with kisses, turning around slowly as he kissed along her jaw to finally find her lips. She melted into him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Take me home, Clark," she said into his mouth. "Let's go home and let's make love."

Clark deepened their kiss in answer, scooping her up and lifting straight up into the night sky.

Flying while kissing Lois was an incredible world of endless sensation. He finally had to pull away, gasping for air, so that he could concentrate on getting them home as quickly as it was safely possible with Lois nestled in his arms. He heard himself groan as she began trailing hot kisses down his throat, and he lost altitude for a moment before steadying their path.

Their journey back to Metropolis took considerably less time than the trip out to Smallville, and in a few minutes, they were floating through the window into Lois's apartment. Clark gently lowered her legs until she stood in front of him. That gentleness vanished an instant later as he pulled her into him, his mouth devouring hers.

They fumbled and stumbled their way through the living room, hastily shedding their clothes and leaving them to scatter in a trail to the bedroom. The last of their garments dropped to the floor as Clark pressed Lois backwards until she collided with the bed. She let herself fall back, Clark's arms wrapped around her as his lips and tongue continued to plunder her mouth.

He pulled her up into him and slid her back across her soft comforter before settling above her, letting just enough of his weight press into her to make every inch of her flesh begin to tingle with anticipation. Lois arched up, pressing her body more firmly against his. Her hands came up to trace the muscles of his chest as he held himself utterly still beneath her soft caress. She lifted one leg and wrapped it high around his hip, tilting back her pelvis until his heavy hardness slid between her legs.

Clark stared down at the beauty beneath him, feeling his heart swell with joyous love. He raised one hand to touch her face, gliding his fingertips across her cheek, then outlining the delicate skin of her lips. As he lowered his mouth to hers, he lowered his body into hers, their sighs mingling as they became one in body, mind, and soul.

~~*S*~~

Later, as their bodies cooled and passion ebbed into deep contentment, Lois sighed, snuggling into Clark. His arms tightened around her as his lips pressed a soft kiss into her hair. "You know," she mused softly, "I could really get used to this." As his arms again contracted around her form, she tilted her head to place a lingering kiss along the side of his neck.

Clark's whole body suddenly stiffened beside her and he went stock still. "What's wrong?" she asked, fear coloring her words.

"I heard something... Someone's in trouble." He was already rising out of the bed before the meaning behind his words fully sank into her brain.

"Go," she told him as she sat up, keeping the sheet wrapped around her body as she watched him silently spin into the Suit. Before the blur of color had even fully resolved itself into his form, she felt his lips connect with hers.

"Hurry back," she told him as he pulled back. "I'll be here waiting." A small smile graced his lips as he floated off the ground. "Be safe," she whispered just before he disappeared in a gust of wind.

She sat there for a long moment, staring into the space he'd just occupied. She lay back down on the bed for all of two seconds before realizing that there was no way she'd be able to fall asleep until Clark came back to her safe and sound. She got out of bed, still wrapped in the sheet, and made her way into the living room. She tripped just before she reached the love seat; she pulled her foot up to find her bra dangling there. Removing the garment, she sat down, her fingers absently toying with the lace.

Lois had never before been so completely consumed with passion. She had certainly never felt such pure lust for a man until now. Desire had been an abstract concept from the fantasy worlds of the countless bodice-rippers she secretly devoured, desperate to at least imagine what such intimacy could feel like, even if she couldn't ever find someone who could arouse such feelings in her.

She hadn't expected to find someone like Clark, that was certain. This connection they shared was almost overwhelmingly intimate, breaking through all barriers to entwine their very souls into one inextricable entity. It really was mind-blowing.

The distant call of sirens interrupted her train of thoughts. Absently dropping her bra back onto the floor, she rose and moved to the window, her eyes and heart filling with concern for Clark. While she had no doubt that Clark would return to her, she found herself suddenly sympathizing with the wives of law enforcement officers. It would be a lot harder to let him go if he weren't invulnerable. He really was, in so many ways, a forever kind of guy.

Forever.

With Clark.

Falling asleep in his arms every night. Flying in his arms. Melting in his arms. Forever.

She never really believed she would find it. She had longed for it, yearned for it, ached deep inside for it.

For him.

For forever with him.

And now, it was right there at her fingertips. All she had to do was grab on tight and hold on for dear life. She knew was safe, because she'd already fallen, head over feet, and he had caught her in his strong, loving arms. She was going to love this man forever, just as he would love her.

~~*S*~~

It had been a long time now, and she was starting to worry. She bit her bottom lip and told herself, over and over, that Clark would come home to her soon. She was stretched out across the small sofa when she heard Clark come in through the window. She stood up and ran into his open arms. For a long time, they simply clung to one another.

"That was the first time Superman has come between us," she said with an amused smile, her fingers tracing the "S" on his chest. "Well, the first time since we..." She trailed off as she looked up into his eyes. "Clark," she said softly, her voice filling with concern, "what happened?"

For a long, silent moment, he just stared at her. Then he pulled her in for a long, deep kiss. He pulled back as abruptly as he'd started, extracting himself from her embrace. He spun back out of the Suit, coming to a rest in front of the sofa clad in jeans and an unbuttoned shirt. He extended his hand out to her, waiting until she reached his side to pull her into his arms as they sat. He leaned back, her back against his chest and his arms wrapped around her.

Lois ran her hands along his arms until their fingers entwined. They sat that way for quite some time before she felt him release a shuddering sigh. "Do you want to tell me about it?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," he answered, his voice so soft she had to strain to hear him. She felt him take a deep breath before he began speaking in a low voice. "The first call wasn't too bad, relatively speaking. Car crash, but no one was seriously injured. I was on my way back when I heard the second call."

When he again fell silent, Lois turned in his arms just enough to capture his lips in a kiss meant to comfort and reassure. She drew back after a while, turning and leaning back against him, one hand sliding free of his grasp to gently stroke his arm.

"A gas main ruptured, then ignited." Lois shivered at the cold, detached tone that suddenly filled Clark's voice. In contrast to the emotionless voice, though, his arms tightened around her, his head dropping to rest beside her ear. He continued his tale in a soft, low voice, still void of any feeling. "It was a residential area. Three houses were engulfed in flames by the time I got there... it was only seconds after the blast... but they never had a chance. Three families gone. Just. Like. That."

"Oh god, how horrible," she said quietly, a deep ache filling her heart. She leaned her head into Clark's, then shivered as sharp tendrils of electricity shot through her veins while his hot breath whispered across her ear.

"There was nothing I could do," he said, anguish finally bleeding through his soft voice. Lois felt her heart break a little for him. "I know I can't always save everyone... but it still hurts, Lois." He took in another shuddering breath. "God, it hurts."

Lois turned around in his arms, and he lifted her up as she settled herself across his lap. As his arms encircled her once again, she gently took his face in her hands. She held one hand pressed into his cheek and let her other hand to drift up into his hair. She urged him toward her until their mouths met. Since she couldn't find words to comfort him, she used her lips and hands to convey her feelings. Clark's arms quickly tightened around her, his mouth demanding more and more of her, and she was more than willing to give him everything he needed.

"I need you, Lois." He ground the words out into her mouth, his lips and tongue not relenting in their onslaught for a moment.

She broke away only far enough to drag in air before breathing her words out into his open mouth. "I'm here, Clark." He pulled her mouth back to his before she could utter another syllable. He stood with her cradled in his arms, mouths remaining fused together as he took her back to her bedroom.

He closed the door with a kick of his foot, and the room was bathed in moonlight. Never breaking from their passionate kisses, he laid her down on the bed, reaching between them to unwrap the sheet still twisted around her body. Suddenly cool air tickled her skin for the briefest moment, and then she felt the heated flesh of Clark's body pressing against her bare skin.

Lois pulled his shirt down his shoulders and arms, and Clark helped pull it off his hands to drop it, not caring where it landed. She reached between them and unfastened his jeans, pushing them down with her hands, then her legs, until he could finally kick those away, too. She gasped when he finally tore his mouth away from hers and began covering her throat with lingering kisses, caressing her with his lips.

When he reached her collarbone, she dug her hands into his hair and pulled his head up, sitting upright and pushing him back into the bed. She lowered herself onto him, stretching her body over him. She slid her legs down his, letting them come to rest along the outside of his legs. She began treating his neck to an equally fiery trail of kisses along his throat, working her way slowly down his neck, then across his collarbone.

She rocked her hips against him, feeling his hot, hard length sliding between her legs, the tip of him pressing into that single most sensitive place on her body with every slow thrust. She moaned with pleasure as she traced the curve of his pectoral muscles with her tongue before bathing his nipple with loving strokes. She kissed her way across to treat his other nipple to the same loving attention before sliding her body down his.

She dropped feathery kisses across every inch of his stomach as she worked her way down his body. She raised her head for a moment to savor the look on Clark's face as she closed her lips around the tip of his generous endowment. She was only allowed to treat him to a few moments of her oral pleasuring before she found herself being pulled back up into Clark's arms.

"I need you," he repeated as their mouths joined. "Now," he finished on a growl. Lois found herself straddling Clark, sinking down onto him with a sigh. She moaned into his mouth as he began to move inside her. She rocked her hips into him, the pressure and friction between their legs rubbing her just right, making her cry out his name, only to have the sound immediately swallowed in another soul-binding kiss.

Clark rose up onto his knees, holding them together with his arms curled beneath Lois. She wrapped her legs even tighter around him as he thrust deep inside her, faster and faster as she felt her whole body tighten around him. He growled out her name as he plunged deep inside her and held her fully impaled on him. The universe exploded, twice, and then they collapsed into oblivion.

~~*S*~~

Dawn was just peaking through the window when Lois woke up to the persistent ringing of the telephone. She reached out for it blindly, pulling it to her ear to mumble a groggy greeting. "Hello?"

She sat bolt upright the moment she heard the caller's voice. Meeting Clark's wide-eyed stare, she finally spoke into the phone once more. "Good morning, Lex."

~~*S*~~


	5. Chapter 5

~~*S*~~

Chapter Five

~~*S*~~

Lois tore her gaze from Clark's intense stare, rising from the bed and wrapping a robe around herself before leaving the room, never turning back to Clark as she listened to the suave voice at her ear.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry you were worried... I just needed to take care of something... personal." She slowly made her way to the small sofa in her living room, turning on every light along the way.

She listened to an oh-so-smooth invitation to dinner, swallowing back a bubble of bile that was creeping up her throat. "Dinner?" she repeated, cringing at the breathless quality of her voice as she valiantly struggled against the legion of butterflies waging war in her stomach.

When she heard him ask if she had come to a decision yet, she closed her eyes, carefully weighing her words as she considered the strange position she suddenly found herself in. "I've given it a lot of thought," she answered honestly. "But to be honest... there's still a lot to consider."

She listened to his next attempt at debonair persuasion distantly, her mind wandering. She knew beyond question that she had no intention, no desire whatsoever to marry this man. Her heart and soul belonged to Clark. And Clark has been telling her for months that he suspects the supposedly great philanthropist to be wearing a disguise himself, hiding a thoroughly corrupt and contemptuous being. She had dismissed his dark suspicions as jealousy, but she suddenly knew there had to be more to it. A lot more. She tuned back into the syrupy voice that seemed to be reaching its conclusion as she jumped to her own.

Her decision made, her voice rang out much more confident when she was finally given an opportunity to reply. "I think dinner would be perfect, Lex. I'll see you tonight." She disconnected the line and set the phone down on the small table near the couch.

"You'll see him tonight?" Clark's dark, low voice startled her, and she jumped up to see him, clad only in his jeans, framed in the doorway of her bedroom. All she could see was his silhouette, as the morning light behind him cast his features in soft shadows.

Lois walked over to stand in front of Clark. She looked deep into his eyes, eyes that were unobstructed by the lenses of his absent glasses. She reached out and gently took his hands in hers. "It's more than just jealousy, isn't it?" she asked him softly.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry I wouldn't listen before... But I'm here now, and I'm ready to listen." She waited, watching Clark with baited breath. When he finally nodded his head, she released a quick sigh. "I want you to tell me everything you know about Lex Luthor."

Clark continued to watch her with guarded eyes. "I still don't have any proof," he told her quietly.

She smiled, squeezing his hands. "I'll take it on faith." When at last Clark's features softened into a smile, she felt unacknowledged tension suddenly drain from her, and she stepped forward to lean against Clark's solid chest. His arms came up around her, holding her tightly to him. She raised her head to meet his mouth in a tender kiss. They lingered for a long, quiet moment, their kiss reaffirming and reassuring. Lois finally pulled back with a sigh. "Why don't you get us some coffee while I get some clothes on."

Clark dropped another soft kiss on her lips before nodding his head, releasing her to walk into the kitchen as she disappeared into the bedroom. She dug through her dresser drawers for a couple of minutes until she found the comfort clothes she was looking for: a well-worn pair of leggings and a t-shirt of Clark's that she had borrowed long ago. She tied her hair up into a sloppy ponytail before heading back out to join Clark in the kitchen.

He must have heard her approach, because he turned his attention from the coffee to her just as she turned the corner. His eyes traveled appreciatively down her body, then back up to meet her gaze with a smile. "I don't think that shirt ever looked so good," he told her as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

Lois had found his discarded dress shirt from last night and brought it with her when she joined him in the kitchen. She reached up and draped it across his shoulders. "It's a little chilly this morning," she said, then laughed softly. "Then again, I suppose that wouldn't bother you much, would it?"

Clark shook his head with a smile as he extracted an arm from their embrace to slide it into the shirt sleeve. "No. I can feel extreme temperatures, cold or hot, but they don't really affect me." As his hand slipped through the cuff, he wrapped it back around her before quickly doing the same with his other arm. As he enfolded her completely in his arms once more, Lois stepped forward and raised her face to join his in another tender kiss.

They parted slowly, neither feeling any eagerness to address the issue hanging like the mythical sword of Damocles over their heads. At last Lois sighed, long and slow, as she turned towards the mugs of coffee Clark had prepared. Clark reached out and slid one over towards her; she picked it up with a soft murmur of thanks before taking a cautious sip of the steamy brew.

"Mmm." she breathed, the soft sound of appreciation vibrating deep in her chest. She turned to regard Clark with a slight twinkle in her eyes. "That settles it. Your coffee is so much better than mine... you're just going to have to keep waking up with me from now on."

Clark grinned, his sparkling eyes filling her entire body with warmth. "I think I could live with that... even if you do only love me for my coffee making skills."

"Oh, I definitely love you for more than just your skills in the kitchen," she said with a sultry smile. He rewarded her with a lingering kiss that once again stole her breath away.

When at last he lifted his mouth from hers, she held her eyes closed for a while before releasing a deep sigh of resignation. "I think we've probably procrastinated long enough now."

Clark echoed her sigh as he let her go, putting some distance between them as he moved back to the counter to fetch his cup of coffee. Lois lifted her own to her mouth for another swallow of the fortifying liquid, then extended a hand out to Clark. As he wrapped his large hand around her smaller one, she led him into the living room. He sat down on one end of the settee, and Lois sat sideways next to him, pulling her feet up to sit cross-legged facing Clark.

She squeezed Clark's hand firmly before releasing it to wrap both of hers around her mug. "I want to know everything," she told him, her voice unwavering. "So start at the beginning."

"The beginning," Clark repeated quietly. "I guess that would be the Messenger."

"Way back then?" Lois asked, surprise evident in her voice and face both. "That was our first story together," she mused.

"That's when I first began to suspect Luthor had... less than humanitarian interests in mind. The night I met him, he was proffering himself as the savior of the space program, and it was pretty clear how much he stood to gain should the next shuttle launch fail and take the entire space program to a crashing end with it."

"I can't believe I'm only just now considering that angle." Lois shook her head in self-disgust. "I let myself be taken in by that debonair charm so much that I never once questioned what might be beneath the smooth surface. I never take anyone or anything at face value, and yet he managed to completely pull the wool over my eyes."

"Don't beat yourself up too hard, Lois." Clark's voice was warm and reassuring, and she let it wash over her, taking comfort in his understanding sympathy. "He's had years to polish that shiny exterior."

Lois pulled in a slow, calming breath before asking Clark to continue. "So, it started with the Messenger." She was proud of the cool down-to-business tone with which she managed to speak.

"I believe he was responsible for all of the sabotage attempts, including that bomb I swallowed." Clark paused momentarily as they each recalled that first fateful meeting between the reporter and the superhero. "And I'm certain he was responsible for both Samuel Platt's death and Dr. Baines'."

"My god," Lois intoned.

"You know, the first time I ever spoke privately with Luthor, he held a sword at my throat." Lois swallowed hard with gaping eyes. "It was a rather blatant challenge."

"And you didn't back down," Lois said, her features softening slightly in a smile.

"Nope," he replied. "Didn't even flinch."

"Of course not!" Lois returned as she grinned full-on.

"Superman paid Luthor a visit," Clark said quietly after a moment. "After taking Prometheus up into orbit."

"After dropping me off at the Planet." Suddenly, her eyes grew wide, and her next words were more than a little sardonic "After dropping me off right next to my very own desk at the Planet. God, I can't believe I didn't figure this out sooner!"

"I have to admit, I was pretty worried that you would that first day." For his part, Clark's grin was wry, in an endearing yet humoring sort of way. "In a way, I think you were the ultimate test of my disguise. I figured that if you didn't recognize me after working day in and day out with Clark Kent for a while, it would be a pretty safe bet no one else would either." Lois indulged him with a slightly self-deprecating laugh, delighting him with her grace and rarely seen humility.

"Anyway," Clark continued, "I went to Luthor's penthouse and told him that Superman knows who he really is, and that he's committed to bringing Luthor to justice. Looking back, it was probably a mistake, letting him know I was onto him. It just made him work that much harder at covering his tracks, which he was already pretty good at. I guess I just wanted to put that first chink in his armor, make him aware that not everyone was fooled by his act."

"Like I was," Lois growled less graciously. She lifted her almost forgotten coffee to take a sip, grimacing when she realized it had grown cold. Clark glanced down at the cup and she felt it quickly warm right there in her hands. Her eyes crinkled in a twinkling smile of gratitude. "Another of life's mysteries explained."

"Anyway," Clark said, returning to the discussion at hand, "My next encounter with Luthor wasn't long after that. I guess Luthor decided to get to know his new... nemesis, and he began conducting these... tests. Gauging Superman's abilities and powers, looking for any weaknesses or vulnerabilities. He was putting innocent lives at risk with complete disregard, and he vowed to keep right on doing it unless I left Metropolis. I was ready to pack up the Suit and forget the whole idea of Superman... but something you said... You managed to find the exact words I needed to hear, to make me realize how much Superman was needed. I couldn't give up, couldn't extinguish the light of hope that I had somehow given the world. The light of hope that was burning bright in your eyes."

As Clark's soft voice drifted quiet, Lois let go of a shuddering breath. She set her coffee cup down on the table, then reached out to take Clark's hands in hers. She brought them up to her lips and pressed gentle kisses across each knuckle.

Clark sighed deeply before continuing again. He told her of several further incidents, ranging from vague suspicions to absolute certainties that remained frustratingly void of legally admissible evidence, eliciting various gasps of surprise, hisses of seething anger, and more than a couple of groans of utter humiliation. When at last Clark came to Luthor's most recent transgressions, Lois's stare had become icy cold, belying the raging fury she felt welling up inside, making her blood boil furiously.

"Why would he save the Planet only to turn around and destroy it?" Lois finally asked, her voice so thoroughly detached that it actually sounded disembodied.

"He destroyed it for the very same reason he bought it: you." Clark's eyes had grown disturbingly dark during their discourse, both physically and emotionally. His voice was equally dark and somber as he continued. "He wants to isolate you, to cut you off from your entire support system so that the only person left for you to turn to will be him. He wants you to be absolutely dependent on him. He'll only be satisfied after he has completely broken your spirit."

Lois stared, seething inside and out. "Well," she said at last, her voice clear and strong and deadly soft. "That," she said with finality, "is not. Going. To happen." She stood abruptly and began pacing the small confines of her apartment, her mind racing at a super-speed that would have been impressive even for Clark.

She could feel Clark's gaze boring into her, but she couldn't stop her near-frantic movement for several heart-pounding minutes. She finally slowed down as a plan, fully-formed and deviously brilliant, suddenly coalesced in her mind. She came to a rest in front of Clark, extending her arms before her, her hands openly waiting for his.

When his fingers were wrapped securely around hers, she spoke. "We're going to take him down. And I know exactly how we're going to do it."

~~*S*~~

Clark smiled, his emotions running the gamut in the span of a few seconds. She finally believed him. She finally saw Luthor for the monster he had always been and would always be. He was no longer fighting this war alone.

Then he spied a strange glint in her eyes, and an irrefutable feeling of alarm began ringing bells in his head. He knew that look in her eye, and it always, always meant one thing: trouble—with a capital "t" and two exclamation points.

"I have a plan, but you're not going to like it," she said, confirming his suspicions. "I have to accept Lex's proposal."

"WHAT?" Clark shot up from the couch, forcing Lois to take a step back. She wrapped her fingers more tightly about his when he began to pull away. He grew disturbingly still, his dark eyes piercing hers.

"Listen to me Clark," she said quietly. "Just listen. And trust me," she added. She stood her ground, waiting patiently for Clark to calm down. A moment later, his eyes narrow and his heart lodged uncomfortably in his throat, Clark nodded. He sat back down and pulled her down beside him.

She again continued in that matter-of-fact, strictly-business tone. "You said it yourself, Clark. He's really good at covering his tracks. You've been beating your head against a brick wall investigating from the outside. We need someone on the inside, someone who can get close to him without raising his full defense system. As the future Mrs. Lex Luthor, I would be in the perfect position to dig deep for the evidence we need without him suspecting a thing."

"No." Clark's voice was loud and hard and unyielding.

"Clark." Lois softened her voice, her eyes pleading with him. "I need to do this, Clark. I need to turn the tables on him. He tried to make a fool of me, and he almost succeeded. He would have if it hadn't been for you." She paused to offer him a gentle smile. Her voice was even softer when she spoke again. "It was a bitter enough pill to swallow when I realized that you had me fooled with a pair of glasses and a pair of tights. For him to deceive me with nothing more than the power of slick persuasion... it's down right humiliating. For that," she said, her voice growing thick and husky with barely controlled passion, "I want to see him suffer complete humiliation. I want his disgrace to be public and absolute. And I want to see the look in his eye when he finally realizes that I was the one playing him for a fool."

Clark closed his eyes briefly before pinning Lois with a pleading stare. "Please, Lois," he said softly. "There has to be another way."

"I need to do this," she repeated, her voice just as quiet, a plea burning in her eyes as well. "Maybe it's petty... but I need vindication. I need, once and for all, to prove that Lois Lane is nobody's fool. I need to prove it to the world... to him... to you... but most of all... I need to prove it to myself."

Clark dropped his head down, closing his eyes in a feeble attempt to hide the pain her words wrought. As she placed her hand on his cheek and gently lifted his head back up, he kept his eyes closed. He needed just moment longer to gather all his mighty strength so that he could give Lois what she needed.

"Please, Clark." He could feel her breath whisper across his ear as she leaned in close to him. She was so close. Clark was suddenly, achingly aware of her presence so near his. He could feel the heat radiating from her body, held scant millimeters away from his. Almost, but not quite, touching.

"I can't do this without you. I need your support. I need *you*. Please." Her breath was hot and moist, and he felt like he was drowning in her. "Will you be there for me?"

Clark grabbed her face with both hands and pulled her back—just far enough for their eyes to meet. His gaze had never been so intense without the use of his Kryptonian enhancements. "Always."

They collided as one together, a maelstrom of viscous emotions swirling through them, weaving in and out and around their bodies as they collided. They'd have crashed onto the floor had Clark not defied gravity. He held them suspended just above her coffee table while they fully entangled themselves together until neither of them knew where the one ended or the other began.

Clothes were hastily shed as their passion consumed them in a wildfire of wanton desire. When the last barriers drifted to the floor below them, Clark tore his mouth from hers. He stilled their bodies, holding her firmly right at the verge of completion. "As much as you need me, Lois," he told her hoarsely, "I need you."

"You have me," she answered. "I'm yours."

Clark immediately claimed her mouth in another searing kiss, lifting their bodies higher and higher until he held her pinned to the ceiling from head to toe. He joined their hands together, lifting them up until he could pin them together alongside Lois's head.

"Mine." The word was growled into her as he finally plunged deep inside her in one long, relentless thrust.

"And you," Lois replied between fervent kisses, "are mine." On her final word, she used her entire body to pull him impossibly closer, impossibly deeper, clenching tightly around him with every muscle in her body for one eternal moment.

In that moment, they were frozen in time. Neither moved, not their bodies, their mouths, their lips, their hands... but their eyes... their eyes flew open together, locking on each other before they were even able to focus through the haze of their passion.

Finally, a need for oxygen broke the spell, their mouths separating just far enough to allow a few precious molecules in.

"I love you." They spoke the words in unison, which sparked a light laugh between them that was quickly swallowed up by their kisses. The laughter, though, had cast its spell on them, and the dark tension that had initiated this particular convergence between them dissipated like the steam drifting from their intimately joined bodies. Their kisses, while still intensely passionate, grew tinted with playfulness and teasing. Hands sought to smooth and caress, comfort and assure, entice and arouse.

Clark let them drift down from the ceiling, floating them gently into the bedroom and onto the bed. They rolled around, getting tangled in sheets and blankets. Clark again floated them gently up, hovering between mattress and ceiling as their lovemaking consumed them. Connected physically, emotionally, even spiritually, they soared higher, bodies and souls intertwined into one being as the entire universe exploded between them before imploding. And then reality simply ceased to exist.

~~*S*~~

An agonizing seven hours later, Lois carefully closed the door to her apartment with a heavy, aching heart. She mechanically engaged each of the locks before turning to lean back against it. She expelled a shuddering breath filled with revulsion and no small measure of self-loathing. She drew in a slow, calming breath before walking to her bedroom to change into something more comfortable, and more _**her**_.

She eased into a pair of soft, clingy leggings, then pulled out an old college sweatshirt Clark had long ago donated to her wardrobe. As she rolled up the sleeves, she caught the glint of light reflecting off of the pretentious diamond adorning her left hand. She stilled, staring at the ring. As it had slid into place on her finger, she had actually shivered at the possessive gleam in his eyes. She had felt branded, and even now, the cold metal was burning her skin. She tore the ring off her hand, stomping over to slam it down on her bureau.

She then caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was still perfectly coiffed, and she frowned in irritation as she dragged her fingers through the carefully arranged tresses, thoroughly disheveling them. She grabbed some tissues and wiped most of the make-up off her face. Still not satisfied, she went to the bathroom and washed every trace of residue from her skin. She blotted her face dry, dabbed on a little moisturizer, touched her lips with a hint of vanilla lip balm, and stepped back to examine the results. She finally allowed a small smile to play at her lips when not a trace of the urban sophisticate she had made herself into remained.

She made her way back through the living room to stand at the window she had come to think of as Clark's. She pushed it open, closing her eyes in sweet relief as the cool night air caressed her face. "I'm home, Clark," she said softly, casting her eyes up towards the slightly waning moon before letting them drift closed.

Her eyes thus shuttered, she experienced Superman's quiet arrival with the enhanced awareness of every one of her other senses. The sound of the air shifting around him as he floated toward her, his cape rustling gently in the slight breeze. The scent of him, clean and masculine and slightly musky. The feel of the heat radiating from his accelerated physiology as he neared. The feel of his arms as he wrapped them around her, one high and one low, lifting her off the ground into his secure, loving embrace. The sweet taste of his lips as they met hers, of his tongue as it swooped deep inside her mouth to tangle with hers for a few deliriously wonderful moments. She wrapped her arms around Clark's neck and held her eyes closed, drinking in his presence and growing intoxicated with it. She felt their foreheads press together, their warm breaths mingling in the small distance between them as they slowly withdrew from each other slightly..

"This is going to be a lot tougher than I thought," Lois said at last.

"It's never too late to change your mind," Clark told her.

"Clark," she said, a soft warning in her tone. "I'm doing this."

Clark sighed. "I know."

"I was good." Her voice held a definite note of satisfaction. "He doesn't have a clue as to what's coming."

"I would expect nothing less." She detected a slight shift in his tone, and she knew he was smiling softly. She felt her lips quirk up in response.

"But I seriously underestimated the difficulty in maintaining an enthralled facade when you feel like your stomach is going to revolt any second." She sighed softly as she let herself relax in his arms. "I feel much better now," she murmured.

"It was pretty difficult seeing you with him. Smiling at him. Laughing. Looking absolutely stunning... for him." Clark's voice had grown low and dark, and she finally lifted her head back and opened her eyes.

"Let's get one thing straight right now. I was not thinking about him as I made myself... 'stunning'." She slowly brought their mouths closer and closer with every word. "The only eyes I imagined feasting on my... elegant banquet... were yours. That," she told him as she finally let their mouths join together, "was all for you."

A long moment later, they pulled apart. Only then did Lois realize that Clark had taken them high up into the night sky over her roof. "I could feel you watching over me," she told him softly. "And even though I hated every moment... I felt safe. Knowing you were out there gave me the strength I needed to get through it." She kissed him again, sharing with him all of her gratitude and appreciation.

"I still don't like it," Clark growled as they broke apart again.

"I know. Me either." She idly played with the hair at he nape of his neck for a moment. "Where were you?"

Clark withdrew his arm from around her shoulders, which made her shiver. He swooped his hand upward briefly in a flying motion before returning to pull her back into his embrace. When she shivered again, he pulled his cape around them, enveloping them in its softness. "You'll never be alone with him," Clark vowed. "I will always be there."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Lois moved towards him, and he met her half-way in a long, slow kiss as they drifted through the canvass of stars surrounding them.

~~*S*~~

Two days later, Clark Kent was fit to be tied. He hadn't seen Lois since the night of her "engagement" to Luthor. He had spent most of that time tied up in Superman duties, unable to keep nearly as watchful an eye on her as he wanted while she went through the charade of happy-bride-to-be. They had been able to connect by phone a few times in the interceding hours, but it inevitably left him feeling frustrated and increasingly desperate. He was just about to dash out the window to see her, but a knock at his door stopped him short. He growled in frustration at the interruption, then heaved a heavy sigh of resignation when his x-ray vision informed him that Perry White was waiting on the other side of the door.

Clark opened the door for his former editor, finding Perry standing there with a broad grin. The men exchanged hearty greetings and firm handshakes as they entered Clark's apartment. Clark closed the door behind Perry after retrieving his luggage from the stoop. He set it down at the top of the steps leading into his living area, gesturing Perry down ahead of him.

"What'd you tell Alice?" Clark asked him as they walked toward the couch.

"Son," Perry replied in a typically gruff voice, "I've been married for twenty-five years, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's you don't lie to your spouse."

Clark eyed him, a knowing gleam in his gaze. "So what'd you tell Alice?

"Told her I went fishin'." Clark chuckled as he motioned for Perry to take a seat, following suit himself. "So..." the old news-hound drawled. "Heard from Lois?"

Clark closed his eyes and shook his head. He really hated lying to Perry, but he had agreed with Lois that it was best if no one, even their trustworthy former chief, knew the full scope of their current investigation. "Not really," he hedged.

"Now son," Perry said, an indulgent and fatherly tone creeping into his voice. "I know this has to be a tough time for you... but I know Lois. And I've got a sneaking suspicion she's not going to go through with this whole wedding shindig."

Clark looked up, his eyes fixing on the wise and all-too-knowing stare of the greatest newspaper editor in the world. Without a word, the two men came to a mutual understanding. "I wish she weren't," Clark finally spoke, his voice reserved. "But Lois is committed to seeing this through. And you know Lois. That means all the way. Down the aisle to stand at the altar with that monster."

Perry let out a low whistle. "Always knew that girl had something of a vindictive streak. The world is lucky she only lets it loose on those who truly deserve it."

Clark nodded his head slowly. "God knows Luthor deserves it. I don't think I've ever encountered another human being so completely unworthy of any show of mercy."

"Powerful words, Clark." Perry's gaze intensified. "Mighty powerful words. I have to admit," he continued, his voice turning contemplative. "I'm surprised Lois hasn't been confronted with... otherworldly intervention."

Clark sucked in his breath sharply, then released it on an amused chuckle. "You really didn't get to be editor of the world's greatest newspaper because you know how to yodel."

"Nope," Perry said as he joined him in a full belly laugh that filled the apartment.

"She's been through a lot," Clark said as they grew serious once more. "She needs to do this her way, and she needs all the support she can get."

"You be sure to tell her she has mine," Perry ordered with that old familiar bark. "Now, what are you doing to bring Luthor down?"

Before Clark could answer, there was another knock at the door. When he spied Jimmy on the other side, he groaned in defeat. It was going to be a while before he could go see Lois. He tromped up the stairs, picking up his phone on the way.

"Come on in, Jimmy," he said in greeting as he opened the door.

"Hi, CK! Hope you don't mind me dropping by unannounced..." Jimmy shuffled his feet, looking decidedly nervous.

"You're always welcome here, Jimmy," Clark told him with an amiable grin. "Come join the reunion," Clark added, gesturing towards the living area.

Jimmy turned back to the open doorway. "Got room for one more?" After a moment's hesitation, Jack's head appeared in the door frame, followed by the rest of his body.

Clark's eyes widened in surprise, then immediately narrowed in suspicion. "I didn't think you made bail,"

Jack slithered inside, closing the door behind him. "I didn't. I busted out. You would have to if you'd heard what I heard."

Clark stared at him for a moment, considering the options. At last he gestured inside. "I guess it's a party. Pizza?" Clark lifted the phone in question, and all three heads nodded enthusiastically.

Jimmy yelled out a surprised greeting to his former boss. They shook hands and hugged and started catching each other up on the last few weeks of their respective lives. Clark walked into the relative quiet of the kitchen to place the pizza order. As soon as that was completed, Clark moved to his bedroom and dialed Lois's number. She picked up before the first ring finished.

"Hello?" Before Clark even had a moment to enjoy the sound of her voice, his sensitive hearing picked up a high-pitched sound well beyond the normal human frequency range.

"Sorry, wrong number," he said, disconnecting the line with a frown.

He walked back out to the living room, his nerves fraying a little with each step. "I... uh... I have to go out," Clark fumbled. "The... uh, the pizza place is running a carry-out special," he finished with a flash of inspiration.

"Times are tough, man," Jimmy sympathized.

"Gotta save when you can.," Perry interjected. "We'll hold down the fort."

Clark nodded absently, the door already open in his hand as he waved goodbye. He walked briskly around the corner into the alley beside his apartment then took to the skies, changing into the Suit as he flew off.

Seconds later, he knocked on the door to Lois's apartment. He waited impatiently as he heard her disengaging the locks one by one until at last she opened the door. Clark immediately placed two fingers against her lips, pulling her out with his other hand. Before she could blink, he disappeared inside. A moment later, he stood before her, his open palm filled with tiny electronic devices.

Lois stared wide-eyed at the surveillance equipment for a moment before looking back into Clark's eyes panic-stricken. "Put them back!" She exclaimed in a harsh whisper.

"What?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Clark, trust me. Put them back." Her voice was low and deadly calm. Still thoroughly confused, Clark did as she asked. As soon as he returned to her side, he scooped her up and whisked them out to the rooftop. He set her down and stepped back, holding one hand out to her. One small device lay resting there. "I hope you'll forgive me for not putting this one back in your shower."

She shivered in front of him, revulsion filling her expression. "That is really creepy," she muttered. "But..." she continued slowly, "If those things all suddenly went off line, don't you think he'd be just a tad bit suspicious? And aren't we supposed to be doing everything to avoid that?"

"You really want to live there knowing he's watching your every move?" Clark countered, the hostility he was feeling only thinly veiled at best.

"Of course not!" Lois stepped further away from him, her posture and body language expertly conveying her indignation. "It's disgusting! It's sick and twisted and it really, really creeps me out!" She began to pace rapidly in front of him, gesticulating wildly with arms and hands as she spoke. "Now I have to keep this act up constantly! I can't let my guard down for an instant. I can't break character even in the privacy of my own home." Her voice shifted abruptly, filling with anguish. "The only time I will ever be able to be myself will be when I'm with you." She came to a rest right before him, unshod tears brimming in her eyes, making them sparkle in the soft moonlight.

"God, I need you, Clark." Those final words were spoken so softly that even his super hearing strained to pick them up. Clark pulled her into his arms, crushing his mouth to hers in a predatory exchange of pent-up passion.

"Are you absolutely sure you still want to do this?" Clark asked when they finally disengaged.

"More than ever." Her cold words were belied by the fiery kiss she graced him with. "As long as I have you with me," she said through their ongoing sensual explorations, "I can handle anything that deranged anti-humanitarian throws at me. And I guarantee you I'll repay him measure for measure for all of the suffering he has caused. "

"You know what, Lois?" Clark's kisses didn't slow even a fraction as he spoke. "Superman probably shouldn't be saying this, but... You are very sexy when you're being devious!" He allowed himself one last whirlwind kiss that took them all the way back to the door of her apartment.

He set her carefully down on the floor, lingering for just one more moment before finally, gradually withdrawing. "I have to go," he whispered. "Perry and Jimmy and Jack are waiting for me to bring pizza."

"Perry's back?" Lois barely remembered to keep her comments at a whisper.

"Arrived just before the other two. I'll fill you in on everything tomorrow. They got there just as I was about to come over," he told her, a hint of frustration laced through his whisper. "You won't be able to call me by phone. Just go to the roof and call out my name. I promise, I will always be close enough to hear you, no matter how softly you call for me."

Lois nodded as she leaned in for one last, sweet kiss. "I love you, Clark," she whispered into his mouth.

"And I love you, Lois Lane," he whispered in reply.

They parted gradually as time itself seemed to slow down around them. As she began opening the door, Clark shifted out of sight against the wall. Their eyes were the last to lose contact as Lois walked inside. Neither blinked nor flickered their gaze until long after the door closed, physically separating them once again.

~~*S*~~


	6. Chapter 6

~~*S*~~

Chapter Six

~~*S*~~

Lois was waiting for him when he came to land on her rooftop. Like two stars colliding in a galactic burst of light and energy, they crashed together in an instant. Lips and tongues and legs and arms and hands tangled together as he lifted them up into the night sky.

For a long while, they drifted aimlessly in and out of the low clouds that had settled over the city, lost in the fog of desperate passion too-long restrained.

"Four weeks," Lois panted between kisses, "three days, seventeen hours—"

"And forty-two minutes," Clark finished. "But who's counting?"

Lois answered by kissing him even more deeply, pressing her body as tightly against him as humanly possible—at least with clothes still on.

Clark pulled back abruptly, eying Lois with a wicked gleam. "Trust me?" he asked, his voice husky and deep.

"Completely." Her reply was immediate and confident. "I trust you with my life. I trust you with my heart... and I trust you with my soul."

Clark smiled, a slow and seductive upturn of the lips. "Then get ready to fly!" He moved his hands to her waist, then he tossed her high up into the night sky before he began to spin in a whirl of shifting colors around her. She cried out his name in shock, then began to laugh as he pulled her now nude body into his equally bare physique an instant later. He wrapped his cape around them as they drifted up higher above the clouds.

"I can't believe how well that worked!" Clark said, joining her in laughter.

"That was incredible!" Lois nipped at his lips in a playful kiss. "So how long have you been hiding that little trick up your sleeve?"

"Not long, actually. Got the idea a few weeks ago... It's been something of a recurring theme in my dreams lately, though," he admitted, his voice a little raspy.

"I've dreamed about it, too... Making love with you while we're flying high above the earth... The idea alone is enough to make me wet between the legs." Her voice had become low and sultry on her last words, and she had brought her lips right up to his ear. Her warm breath across his skin sent sharp jolts of electricity racing through his blood. Every inch of his skin began to tingle with anticipation as she began kissing his neck, then along his jawline, trailing the tips of her fingers along the slick path her lips left behind. She pressed a kiss on the center of his chin before slowly lifting her mouth to melt into his, her fingers lingering lightly just underneath his jawbone.

"Do you think it's possible," Clark asked when they finally pulled apart to breathe some time later, "for two people to share the same dream?"

"I'm making love in the clouds with a man who can fly," Lois answered with a laugh. "I'd have to say that just about anything is possible for us."

They began to kiss again, still drifting in and out of the dense cloud cover. His cape was growing damp from the moisture surrounding them, and tiny tendrils of steam were beginning to rise up off the fabric from the heat being generated between their bodies. Clark floated them up high above the clouds as lips and hands stoked the smoldering embers of their passion.

With the cloud cover effectively blocking the city's light pollution, the universe came to life around them. Countless blazing stars filled the sky, sparkling like glitter against the black voids of space. The moon, just clearing the horizon and looming low and large, wasn't quite full, but it was blue, a bright crystalline blue that radiated a spectacular glow of light that bathed them in its nascent hues.

Their lovemaking was slow and deliberate, their passion so intense it nearly fused them together at the molecular level. He simply could not seem to get enough of her, nor she of him. Every kiss was something to be savored and cherished, every touch burned into memory. There was a quiet desperation about their lovemaking, though. They would bring one another to the very edge of oblivion, only to pull back, fighting to stay right there on the edge for as long as possible. There they hung, desperately clinging together, every nerve in both of their bodies screaming for release.

And then they went supernova.

~~*S*~~

The first thing Lois was aware of was the rush of cold wind against her burning skin. The second thing she noticed: "Clark! We're in free fall!"

She felt Clark's arms tighten around her as he slowed their descent. They came to a gradual stop just above the clouds before his eyes fluttered open. "I'll never let you fall, Lois." He pulled her head back to his for a lingering kiss.

Lois sighed as she melted in his arms once more. When he finally broke away, Lois dropped her head down to rest in the crook of his neck. A random, silly thought crossed her mind just then, making her giggle.

"What?" Clark asked.

Lois lifted her head to meet his speculative gaze, a slightly mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "You said I couldn't have the kind of relationship with Superman that I'd been fantasizing about," she said with a teasing smile.

Clark tilted his head to one side. "Is this the kind of relationship you thought you'd have with Superman?" He asked, his tone light and curious.

"No," she answered in a heart beat. "This is much better." She smiled as she felt his lips brush her forehead.

"You know what the best part of this is?" As he spoke, his lips continued to graze her sensitized skin, and slow tingles of pleasure began creeping up through her scalp.

"Hmmm..." Lois pressed her lips into his neck as she hummed thoughtfully. The vibrations of sound flowed from her lips into his flesh, and he moaned appreciatively. "The fact that we're finally free to be ourselves, really, completely ourselves, when we're together?"

Clark let out another low moan of pleasure as her words tickled his neck. "As great as that is," he replied, his voice scarcely more than a whisper. "No."

"Hmm." This hum, pressed into the soft skin just below his ear, was filled with curiosity, making him tremble in her arms as he sucked in a deep, ragged breath. "The fact that we are completely..." Her words were slow as she began dropping butterfly kisses along his jaw with each subsequent adjective. "...deeply... madly... in love with each other?" She finished with a light grazing of his lips with hers, her tongue sweeping across him in a playful swipe before she pulled away, smiling at him.

Clark responded by pulling her face back to his with one hand, his lips crashing down on hers, his tongue invading her mouth. He kissed her thoroughly, nearly devouring her, and just as she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, he tore himself away from her, his dark eyes glinting with immense satisfaction.

"That," he said after a moment, "is a dream come true. But, as wonderful and incredible as that is... it's still not the best part."

"Well..." Lois drew out the word as her stare grew sultry and impetuous. "Maybe it's... this?" On that final word, she contracted her whole body, still intimately joined with his, around him as she ground her pelvis into his.

Clark grunted, then groaned harshly. "No."

"No?" She relaxed slightly around him, her brow furrowed in thought. "What could possibly be better than all of that?"

"The best part of this, the part that amazes me even more than all of that... I finally feel like I belong." Clark paused to give her a gentle kiss. Lois sighed, her heart and body melting into him, her eyes glistening with love. "For the first time in my life, I know that I am right where I am meant to be. Right here with you."

"Oh, Clark... You're not alone anymore." Lois claimed his mouth once more, and for a very long time, no further words were needed.

~~*S*~~

"So..." Lois began some time later. "I have a question for you."

"Ask me anything," Clark replied.

"Where are our clothes?"

Clark chuckled. "Some mysteries are best left unexplained," he told her after a moment.

"Clark?" Her voice was quickly turning indignant. "Where are they?"

He replied by kissing her. "Do you really want your clothes back right now?" He asked, a decidedly wicked gleam in his eye.

Lois sighed. "We still need to talk... and I have a feeling that's not going to happen if we stay like this."

Clark echoed her sigh. "All right," he said after a while. He pulled back from her a little, keeping his cape draped about their bodies. "Close your eyes," he said softly. She stared quietly at him for a long moment before finally letting her eyes drift shut.

Suddenly, cold air was racing across her entire body. She shivered hard as she felt herself begin to fall. Before she could even gasp, though, her descent was halted by Clark's strong hands at her waist. She slowly raised her eyelids, glancing down to confirm that she was indeed once again fully dressed, and Clark's magnificent physique was once again clad in the brightly colored spandex of his Suit.

She cast her eyes back up to his face, an impressed smile gracing her lips. "Not bad, flyboy," she quipped.

Clark grinned, dropping a chaste kiss on her mouth before lifting her up to be cradled in his arms. "So, let's go someplace we can talk."

"Any chance we could go somewhere with food?"

"Hungry?" Clark asked.

"I haven't exactly been eating much lately," she admitted quietly. "It's hard to have an appetite around someone whose very presence is nauseating."

Clark pulled her closer to his body. "You have to take better care of yourself, Lois."

"I know," she replied. "This is all just... it's hard. Harder than I ever imagined, and in so many ways." She sighed, resting her head against his shoulder. "Thank God I have you. I never could have gotten through this alone."

"Yes, you could have," Clark said, his contradiction startling her. "You are the strongest, bravest, smartest, most resourceful and resilient person I have ever known. If this investigation had landed in your lap before we met, you would have gotten the story, and probably the Pulitzer, all on your own."

Lois lifted her head to meet Clark's gaze head-on, her eyes filled with wonder. "No one has ever had that kind of faith in me before," she said, her voice hushed with awe.

"I hate seeing you doubt yourself," he replied. "You are an amazing woman, and you should have all the confidence in the world."

Lois laughed, her smile humoring. "Hey, even Superman has insecurities," she teased.

Clark laughed with her. "All right, so we need someplace with food and privacy," he said, sobering the mood almost instantly.

"Any ideas?"

Clark smiled as he began flying them eastward.

~~*S*~~

Lois lifted her head from Clark's shoulder, looking around with bleary eyes. "Guess I dozed off," she said softly.

"You needed the rest," Clark told her. "And you just looked too... peaceful to disturb."

"Where are we?" She looked around at the unfamiliar landscape, realizing that they could literally be any where in the world.

In answer, Clark turned his head to one side. "Look over there," he told her.

She complied, a delighted gasp escaping her as she spied the Eiffel Tower in the distance. "Paris?"

"Thought you'd like a proper breakfast. I know this great little bakery... It's a little out of the way, but their croissants are absolutely the best in the world."

Lois laughed out loud. "A little out of the way?"

Clark grinned. "Relatively speaking." As they approached the outskirts of the city, Clark began their descent in a sparsely populated area. Buildings were few and far between, and there were several patches of dense foliage dotting the landscape beneath them. He brought them to a landing in one of these regions, lowering Lois gently until her feet touched the earth. He captured her lips in a sweet kiss before stepping back to spin out of his Suit.

Once properly attired in a charcoal suit with a light gray shirt and a horridly wild, bright yellow tie, he extended his hand out to Lois and together they walked out of the forested area a short distance to a paved road. "I spent four months here about a year after I graduated. This was the last stop on my European tour, and by far my favorite at that point. The people are friendly and welcoming, the landscape is simply beautiful, and the food, of course, is to die for. I really hated to leave... but I really didn't have much choice after I ended up in a nasty train wreck. I wasn't the only survivor, but I did walk away without a scratch when I should have been maimed beyond recognition. So, before anyone had a chance to ask me about it, I packed up and left town."

Lois regarded him with sympathetic eyes. "You had to do that a lot, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I lived in sixteen different countries in three years. Never really stayed more than a couple of months, except for here. I lived here longer than any place else. Well, except Smallville. And then I landed in Metropolis, and I knew, from the moment I stepped off the bus, that I had found the place I wanted to call home."

Lois smiled, giving his hand a gentle squeeze and bumping her hip against hers as they strolled. "You took a bus here?"

"What's wrong with taking a bus?" Clark asked, his tone bemused.

"Nothing, nothing." Lois shook her head slowly. "It's just... well... you can fly! Why would you want to take a bus?"

"Sometimes it's nice to just sit back and enjoy the ride," he replied after a moment. "Take in the scenery. Socialize a little, even. Can't do much of that on a solo flight."

"I guess," Lois said, sounding rather unconvinced. "Personally, I would much rather fly than spend hours on end in a cramped, uncomfortable seat on a stuffy bus full of strangers."

Clark laughed. "Why am I not surprised?"

Lois laughed with him for a bit, and then they lapsed into a comfortable silence as they made their way up a small hill along the road. Just as they crested the top, Lois caught sight of civilization sprawled out across the slight valley below. She knew from their flight that they weren't too far from the urban center of Paris, but this particular area was rather rural, with plenty of local vegetation woven in and around the buildings that dotted the landscape. It was filled with the colors of spring, flowers blooming everywhere as far as the eye could see.

"Come on," Clark said when Lois paused to take in the sight. "The cafe's just ahead, around that bend." Hand in hand, they continued again companionably quiet, neither feeling a need to fill the silence with words just then. A few minutes later, they rounded that bend and suddenly found themselves in the heart of a lovely little business district. Three buildings down was the cafe Clark had promised.

The moment they stepped inside, a matronly woman nearly leaped over the counter to greet Clark. She embraced him, kissing each cheek as was customary, and then they began conversing in rapid French as Lois looked back and forth between them in mild confusion.

"And this is my dear friend, Lois Lane," Clark finally said in English. "Lois, this is Madame Angelique La Coeur."

"It is wonderful to meet you, Mademoiselle Lane," Her English, though heavily accented, was flawless. She graced Lois with the same customary kisses before turning back to Clark. "Since you have brought such a lovely young lady with you, I will take you to my special sitting room. I just had it finished a few weeks ago. Very pretty. Very romantic. Very private," she finished with a wink.

The way Clark blushed made Lois giggle, which only served to make Clark's blush deepen. He tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow as they followed their hostess to a small room in the back corner of the little cafe. There was but one small table inside, the lights were soft and warm, and the décor was definitely of the romantic persuasion. Clark pulled out a chair for Lois, sliding it forward as she sat down. He sat down across from her and reached across the table. She placed her hand back in his, and he lifted it to press a soft kiss across her knuckles, making her shiver slightly.

"Shouldn't we order?" Lois asked after enjoying a moment of staring at the handsome man across from her.

"Wouldn't matter if we did, she'd just bring us whatever she wanted anyway," Clark said with a wry grin. "It's all fabulous."

"Seems a strange way to run a business," Lois mused.

"Well, she's only like that with her regulars, and her favorites." Clark's thumb was absently stroking the back of her hand, sending little tingles of pleasure running up her arm.

"So which are you?" she asked with a cheeky grin.

"Both!" His grin, of course, was just as cheeky.

"Of course." Lois pulled his hand up to her mouth and dropped a soft kiss on that roving thumb. Before they could continue their banter, Madame La Coeur entered bearing a large tray loaded with aromatic pastries and two steaming mugs of what smelled like the best coffee Lois had ever even dreamed of. She picked hers up almost before it was set down in front of her, taking a cautious sip. Her moan of pure bliss as she savored the hot liquid was so alluring to Clark that he actually had to adjust his position as his trousers were growing just a bit tight in a certain region of his anatomy. Their hostess said not one word, just beamed with an all-too-knowing smile as she left the two alone.

Delighted with both the amazing food and the wonderful company before her, Lois made such short work of her first couple of pastries that she barely even tasted them. She finally slowed down on the third, and after a fourth, she finally started feeling like she had enough to eat.

"Feel better?" Clark asked with a smile.

"You have no idea," she answered. She popped the last bite of her croissant into her mouth, then washed it down with the last swallow of that delicious coffee, a low hum of appreciation rumbling through her chest. "So," she began slowly, "we have some business to discuss."

Clark's smile disappeared in an instant, to be replace with a deep frown. "Yeah, I guess we do."

"So what have you managed to dig up so far?"

"Well, we started with the Planet's advertisers." Clark's tone had shifted, becoming formal, cold, almost harsh. "Seems every single one that bailed out had received sizable... donations... in exchange for discontinuing business with the Planet. Jimmy's working on tracking down the sources of those contributions, but they all seem to be coming from dummy corporations. Tying them directly to Luthor is proving nearly impossible."

"We knew this wouldn't be easy," Lois said quietly.

"It's not. Perry's been trying to talk to the board members who agreed to sell to Luthor, but they're pretty much stone-walling him."

"I'm sure he's thrilled with that," she commented dryly.

"I don't think I've ever heard such colorful euphemisms before." Clark replied. "Anyway... Jack has managed to confirm that 'The Boss' is definitely responsible for the bomb and for framing Jack, but not with anything legally admissible, and no one is willing to name Luthor, or testify against him, either."

Lois sighed, shaking her head. "Well, maybe that will change when his house of cards comes tumbling down on top of him. You know how people like to jump on those proverbial bandwagons." Clark nodded. "I managed to get hold of some interesting information yesterday. I found copies of the insurance policies for the Planet." Clark's eyebrows climbed high up his forehead. "You know he claimed that the Planet was under-insured, that there wasn't enough money coming to make rebuilding a 'worthwhile investment'? Well, I think, if anything, the opposite is true. I mean, I admit, I don't know that much about the financial end of running a newspaper like the Planet, but the four—count 'em, four—policies I found paid out way more than what Lex paid for the Planet in the first place."

Lois reached inside her blouse, extracting a very small camera she had concealed in the lining of her bra. Her lips quirked upward in an amused smirk as she caught Clark staring at the place the camera had been stashed. "I'm just glad this didn't fall out when you pulled that little disrobing trick earlier!"

Clark looked up then, meeting her eyes with an impressed smile. "You are truly an amazing woman," he told her.

"I know." She passed the camera over to Clark. "I got copies of every page of each policy on there. I just hope it helps."

Clark pocketed the camera as he rose from the table. "It's one step closer," he said as he helped Lois to her feet.

"We need more than these baby steps, Clark." Lois stepped into his waiting arms, wrapping her own around his waist as she rested her head against his solid chest. "We're running out of time. The wedding is only two weeks away."

"I know," Clark said, his voice very soft but very intense. "We're close, though. Getting closer every day."

Lois sighed. "I wish I didn't have to go back," she murmured.

"You don't, you know. You can call this off any time."

"Clark," Lois said, lifting her head to meet him eye to eye. "We've already had this discussion. I can't just call it off now. We're too close. And I really need to see this through. I need to do this my way."

This time it was Clark's turn to sigh. "I know. And I'm sorry I keep asking if you want out... It's just so... hard. Seeing you with him, knowing you're with him... and not being able to be with you myself... It's hard," he repeated with a small sigh. "But I promised you my support, and you have it. You'll always have that, Lois. No matter how hard it gets."

Lois stretched up on the tips of her toes to kiss him softly. "Thank you," she said quietly as they parted. "I can't imagine how I could get through this alone."

Clark kissed her, not nearly as softly, and more than a little possessively. "You're not alone, Lois. I'm always with you, in mind and spirit if not in body."

"Mmm," Lois purred, pulling him a little closer. "But I do like it when you're with me in body," she said, her eyes twinkling and her grin saucy. "And since we don't have much time left to be together in body... I think we should make the most of it." As she finished, she began trailing feathery kisses across his jawline, ending just below his ear. When she sucked his lobe between her lips before lightly grazing his skin with her teeth, Clark moaned low and deep.

He grabbed her head with both hands, pulling her back to meet his mouth in a demanding, almost bruising kiss. Just as she was starting to get completely swept away in the heady sensations he evoked, he tore himself away, taking a couple of steps back and creating physical distance between them. He let his hands drop down from her face as he stared at her with dark, passion-filled eyes for a long moment. Then he grabbed her hand and briskly lead her out of the room.

He paid for their meal and said his farewells as quickly as he could politely manage, then practically dragged Lois outside. He looked up and down the small road, taking in the modest pedestrian traffic, then took Lois the few steps to the end of the building. They ducked down the small alleyway between the shops, but stopped halfway through. He pulled Lois up into his arms, cradling her as closely as possible.

"Keep your eyes closed, because we're going to be taking off pretty fast." Lois obeyed, burying her head against his shoulder as she felt them suddenly and rapidly ascend. It was several minutes before Clark finally told her she was safe to open her eyes. As she did, she realized that they were already over the ocean, with no land in sight.

"Where are we going now?" Lois asked curiously,

"That depends... when do you want to get back to your place?"

"I guess I should probably get back before sunrise... And I think I'll reschedule my morning appointments so I can get some sleep. What time is it in Metropolis now?"

"We've got a couple of hours," he replied. "And I know just the place for us to share some quality time together," he finished with a smile.

"Where?"

"You'll see," he said, looking a little too smug for her liking.

"Tell me!" He shook his head. "You know I don't like surprises," she said, pouting just a little.

"You'll like this one." And that was all he would say, prompting a grunt of frustration from Lois. "If you close your eyes and hold on tight, I can get us there a little faster," he offered.

"Just tell me!" Lois begged. Clark just shook his head again, then dropped a soft kiss on her still-pouting lips before tucking her back snug against his chest as he poured on as much speed as he dared with his precious cargo.

Scant minutes later, Lois felt them slowing down. "Can I look?"

"There's not much to see," Clark replied. "It's pretty dark here."

"Well, I could tell that with my eyes closed," she replied, her tone somewhat snarky.

"You can open your eyes. We're just about there."

Lois raised her head as her eyes fluttered open. True to his word, it was quite dark around them. The moon was setting, low on the flat horizon and weakly illuminating the terrain below them. They descended slowly, and only when gravity reasserted its hold on them did she finally recognize their location.

"Your parents' house?" she asked, incredulous.

"It's private, and no one knows we're here." Clark's tone was infuriatingly pragmatic.

"But... it's your parents' house!" She couldn't believe he'd actually brought her to his parents' house so that they could make lo...make the most of their limited time together.

"Relax. Lois. They're sound asleep." At her nonplussed stare, he added, "It's my home, too, you know." Lois opened her mouth to speak, then snapped it shut with a shake of her head. "Unless you'd rather I just take you home now..."

"No." She shook her head once more. He really did have a very different relationship with his parents than she had with hers, she mused internally. "No," she repeated, softer. "It just seems... strange, I guess. I don't think I could ever... be... intimate... in either of my parents' houses."

"Come on," Clark said gently. "We don't have much time left, and I don't want to spend it discussing the differences between our families." He scooped her back up into his arms and carried her to the porch, floating up over the steps. Their entrance was impressively silent, the door closing behind them with the softest click. He glided up the stairs and into his bedroom, shutting the door behind them. He carried her to the bed, but instead of laying her down, he turned and leaned back, stretching his large frame over the mattress with Lois on top of him.

Lois shifted in his arms, stretching her lower half along his until she was laying over him, her hands splayed across the firm, smooth muscles of his chest. Clark arched his head up to catch her lips in a kiss that started deep and then grew even deeper. Clothes were quickly shed and forgotten as hands and mouths explored, tantalizing and arousing even greater passion between them. Clark kept them hovering just a few inches above the bed as they finally joined together once again. The rest of the world faded away into nothingness as they became absolutely lost in one another.

~~*S*~~

Lois was pacing her rooftop as she waited for Clark. There were only two days left before the big event. The clock was ticking louder by the second.

She had accidentally come across a file today, the contents of which had shaken her so thoroughly that she had almost been caught red-handed. She knew that seeing Clark tonight was riskier than ever, but she had to let him know what she had found. She had to warn him.

She sighed in relief when she heard the gust of wind behind her heralding his arrival. She turned around to be instantly enfolded in his warm embrace. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, holding on for dear life as he lifted them up into the night sky.

"We need to talk," she said after a short while. "I found something today... Clark... Is Kryptonite real?"

Clark's brow furrowed, his expression grim. "It's very real. And it's very dangerous. To me, anyway."

Lois drew in a shaky breath. "How dangerous?"

Clark blinked a couple of times before answering. "The first time I was exposed to it was when we went to Smallville a few months ago. My dad had a chunk of it in a lead box in the barn... The moment he opened it, I got hit with the most excruciating pain I have ever experienced. It was so bad I actually lost consciousness. When I came to... I discovered that it had knocked out my powers. For the first time since I was a kid, I was every bit as mortal and vulnerable as any normal human being."

"Which is definitely not normal for you." Lois closed her eyes for a moment, but they snapped open a split second later as a forgotten memory surfaced. "That really was your first paper cut, wasn't it?" She shook her head with a small, wry smile.

"It really was," Clark confirmed. "And for the record, I won you that teddy bear with nothing more than ordinary human strength." Lois couldn't keep that smile from broadening as she took in Clark's slightly smug grin. "I gotta admit, though... I was pretty surprised you picked the bear over the Superman figure."

"Oh... well, I already had one of those at home," Lois replied impishly.

"You did not!" Clark retorted.

Lois laughed softly. "No. I didn't. I don't know, I guess I thought that the bear seemed a more... appropriate souvenir from my trip to Smallville." She paused, a contemplative look filling her features. "You want to know a secret?"

Clark grinned. "Well, you know mine... it's only fair for you to share yours."

Lois's smile turned just the tiniest bit shy. "I've been sleeping with that little bear ever since."

His broad grin softened into a warm beam filled with that pure love that only came from Clark. "Do you have any idea how much I love you?" he finally said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Lois lifted a hand to lightly caress his cheek. "Well, if it's anywhere near as much as I love you, then I've got a pretty good idea."

Once again, Clark touched his lips to hers in a tender kiss. "So," he said as they moved a little apart. "What made you ask about Kryptonite?"

Lois closed her eyes, choking back a bubble of fear that had suddenly lodged in her throat. "I think Lex has Kryptonite. I found a file for something labeled 'Series K'. Lots of scientific reports that I couldn't begin to decipher... and on one page, there was something about the 'subject' being exposed and demonstrating a 'visible reaction'."

"Well, that would explain it," Clark mused. At Lois's perplexed look, he continued. "I responded to a bank alarm the other day which turned out to be a false alarm. When I stepped out of the bank, I suddenly got lightheaded, then dizzy, and then came the pain. I was pretty sure it was Kryptonite, since that's the only thing that has ever affected me like that, but I never actually saw it."

"He's going to try to use it against you," Lois warned. "Maybe... maybe you should steer clear of Lex Luthor until he's locked up safe and secure."

"Not a chance," Clark told her sternly. "I can't back out now any more than you can. This just means that we're now sharing an equal risk. I'm not in any more or less danger than you."

"Can it..." Lois faltered for a second, as the very thought of her next question shook her to her core. "Do you think it could kill you?"

"I think it very well could if I was exposed long enough."

Again, she closed her eyes, desperately searching for any inner reserves of strength she could muster. "Promise me you'll be careful, Clark. I can't lose you. Not now."

"Forewarned is forearmed," Clark said, his tone softer and reassuring. "I'll be careful, Lois. I promise. I have far too much to live for."

Keeping her eyes shut tight, she clung to him like a life preserver in a tumultuous sea. "If anything were to happen to you—"

"Nothing is going to happen to me," Clark assured her. "Or you. We are going to get through this, I swear. As long as we're together, we're unbeatable."

Lois finally let her eyes open, meeting Clark's gaze with fierce determination. "Lex Luthor has no idea who he's messing with." Clark gave her a dark smile in return. He lifted one hand to curve around the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her silky locks as he pulled her into his loving kiss.

~~*S*~~

Lois was growing frantic. She was due to walk down the aisle any minute. She was garbed in a dream of a wedding gown—though it wasn't one she ever would have chosen for herself. Her hair was perfect, as was her make-up. Only one thing was missing: Clark.

She hadn't heard from him at all in the two days that had passed after she had warned him of the Kryptonite. Neither had Perry or the boys. Nor his parents. He had, for all intents and purposes, vanished off the face of the earth.

She was pacing in the small confines of the dressing room, unable to sit or even stand still for a second. Then she caught sight of her reflection in the full length mirror at one end of the room. She walked over to it slowly, examining every detail of the woman in the glass.

She pulled in a deep, shaky breath. "Mrs. Clark Kent," she murmured softly. A small frown pulled the corners of her mouth down. That just wasn't quite it. "Lois Kent." She crinkled her eyes, the frown growing marginally deeper. That didn't seem to fit, either. She took another slow, deep lungful of air, releasing it just as slowly. "Lois Lane Kent." She smiled. That was it. That felt... right. Meant to be.

"Oh, Clark... where are you?" Her quiet voice cracked, and she blinked furiously to keep the tears in her eyes from cascading down her cheeks.

"Right behind you."

Lois gasped at the unexpected sound of Clark's voice behind her. She spun around to see him leaning against the wall beside the closed door. A moment later, she was in his arms, kissing him with furious hunger and need.

"Where have you been?" she asked between kisses.

"Locked up in a cage." His answer stopped Lois dead in her tracks. She slowly pulled back, gazing at him in wide-eyed horror. "Luthor set a trap, and I stupidly walked right into it."

"Kryptonite?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Clark nodded. "The bars of the cage were somehow coated with it."

"Oh, god, Clark..." Lois breathed, her hands coming up to his face. "Are you all right?"

"I will be." He kissed her softly, reassuringly. "But I don't have any of my powers... and considering how long I was in there... I'm not sure they'll come back this time."

"They'll come back." Her voice was far more confident than she felt.

"We'll see," Clark said, unconvinced.

A knock at the door interrupted them. "Ms. Lane?" The voice behind the door belonged to Luthor's assistant, Mrs Cox, and the very sound of it made Lois cringe. "Are you ready? The guests are growing restless."

"I just need a minute," she called out.

"Very well, Ms. Lane. I will inform Mr. Luthor." Lois and Clark held absolutely still until the sound of her footsteps faded away.

"I guess it's show time," Lois said at last.

"I managed to make a quick call to Perry before I found my way here," Clark informed her. "The cavalry is on its way."

"Good." Her voice was strong and determined now. "Let's go give Lex Luthor his just desserts." She kissed Clark once more, thoroughly and deeply, before stepping back to examine herself in the mirror one last time. She snatched a tube of lipstick off the nearby counter, dabbed the color on her lips, and gave a satisfied nod. When she turned back to Clark, she saw him smiling softly.

"You really do look beautiful," he told her quietly.

Lois smiled back at him as she returned to his side.. "Just wait till you see what I bought for the wedding night," she told him, her smile becoming sultry. "I've been imagining the look on your face when you see it since the moment I first laid eyes on it." She gave him one last soft kiss before stepping away. "All right. It's time."

"I love you," Clark said just before she opened the door.

"And I love you," Lois answered. Then she left the room, and Clark, her stride brisk and resolute.

~~*S*~~

Several minutes later, Clark found his way to the large hall in which the ceremony was just about to get under way. He found one empty seat near the front on the bride's side and settled in for what was sure to be a climactic event. He barely had time to look around when the familiar strains of the wedding march began and the crowd rose to its collective feet.

Lois appeared through the open doorway, and he felt his breath catch in his throat. As she practically floated down the aisle, their eyes met and locked for a moment. As a sly smile crept across her face, he winked at her. Then she moved past him and they lost eye contact.

Once she reached the altar, Clark allowed his gaze to travel over to Luthor. The man looked entirely too self-satisfied, his grin smug and assured. Clark allowed himself a small smile, knowing that in a very few moments, that grin would be wiped off his pompous mug, never to return.

The ceremony officially began with the words of the Arch Bishop droning through the hall. Clark returned his gaze to the bride, although her back was to him and he couldn't see her face. He waited, appearing calm, but internally squirming with impatience as he tried to will Lois to hurry up and call this whole charade to a halt.

Then they came to the vows. As Luthor said his "I do", it occurred to Clark that he might have very well fried the man to a crisp if he'd still had his heat vision. Then the Arch Bishop turned to Lois. "Do you, Lois, take this man to be your wedded husband from this day forward, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"

Every single person in the room seemed to hold their breath as Lois slowly turned to face Luthor dead on. Her gaze was unwavering, her smile supremely confident, and her voice rang out loud and clear to every ear in the room.

"No."

~~*S*~~


	7. Chapter 7

~~*S*~~

Chapter Seven

~~*S*~~

"I beg your pardon?" Though he continued to smile, Lex Luthor's voice betrayed his shock.

"You should get used to it. Begging, that is." Lois gave a soft, dark chuckle. "You thought you had me fooled, didn't you? But the truth is… I've been playing you for the fool. I know who you are, Lex Luthor. Who you really are. And I could never love someone like you." She leaned in close, her next words for his ears only. "Especially not when I am completely in love with Clark Kent."

As she pulled back, she watched with great satisfaction as his features shifted, contorting his face with dark fury. Before he could utter another word, though, the doors of the hall burst open, and in marched Inspector Henderson, along with several uniformed police officers. Perry, Jimmy and Jack were all hot on their heels.

"Stop the wedding!" Perry's voice bellowed through the hall, reverberating loudly.

"Too late, Perry," Lois said with a smug grin. "I already stopped it."

Henderson kept marching down the aisle until he stood toe to toe with Luthor. "I have a warrant here charging you with arson and other crimes too numerous to mention."

"You're through, Luthor," Perry added. "We have all the evidence we need against you."

Henderson nodded his head at a couple of the officers, who began to move in on Luthor. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney—"

"I can afford a thousand attorneys!" Luthor roared, backing away from the officers. "I'll have your badge for this! I'll have your head on a platinum platter! Get the mayor on the phone! No, get the damn President!"

Luthor turned his enraged scowl back to Lois. "This is not over, my dear." He turned back out to the audience that was enthralled by the drama taking place. He suddenly spotted his adversary, Clark Kent, who was watching the spectacle with immense satisfaction written all over his face. Luthor lunged for him, but was quickly thwarted by the uniformed men. He threw them off like a professional linebacker and made his escape through a door on the side of the great hall. Every officer in the room immediately gave chase.

"Wow," Lois breathed as the commotion continued. All of the guests were rapidly fleeing the room, and soon the only people left inside were Lois, Perry, Jimmy, Jack, and Clark, who rushed over to Lois and wrapped his arms around her.

"We did it!" Lois exclaimed softly. "We beat him. It's over."

"It's over," Clark repeated, a wide smile filling his features and lighting his eyes.

"Why don't we get you out of here, darlin'," Perry said, earning a nod of agreement from both Lois and Clark. The group left the hall, Lois and Clark walking hand in hand and unwilling to take their eyes off each other for even a second.

A few minutes later, they were standing outside. Before they could try to work their way through the crowd, someone screamed and everyone looked up to the top of the tall building. A small figure was standing on the ledge. To the complete horror of the onlookers, the figure jumped off the ledge, plummeting headfirst towards the ground.

Lois felt Clark stiffen beside her, his entire body straining upward for a split second before he sagged against her. "I can't," he growled in frustration. Just before the body impacted the earth, Lois turned away and buried her head against Clark's shoulder. She heard the dull, sickening thud and her whole body quaked in Clark's arms.

Clark held Lois close, his arms tightening around her as she began to tremble almost violently. Without releasing her, he began slowly maneuvering through the stunned crowd that was being forced back by various law enforcement and security types. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head to see Perry White clearing a path for them.

Once they were a fair distance from the throng of people, Perry paused. "How about I give you a lift out of here?" Perry offered.

Clark nodded his head as Lois lifted hers. "Wait," she said, "I left something inside… I need to go back—"

Just then, Jimmy stepped forward, his young face ashen in response to the horror they had all just witnessed. "I can go. What did you need?"

Lois turned to face him, relief and gratitude filling her expression. "Um… my overnight bag. It should still be in the dressing room."

"Got it," he replied, disappearing into the crowd.

"Why don't we get you two over to the car to wait," Perry suggested, earning a nod of appreciation from both Lois and Clark. "Did you want to go back to your place, Lois?"

Lois shook her head adamantly. "No. That place is still full of Luthor's bugs."

This time it was Jack who stepped forward to offer his assistance. "I'd be happy to get rid of them for you," the young man told them.

Lois turned to regard him with a mixture of appreciation and apology. "Jack…" she began slowly, "I know I haven't always been… well, nice to you… and for that, I'm sorry. I know how much you've helped with this investigation, and I want you to know that you have earned my gratitude… and my respect." She leaned forward and brushed a gentle kiss across his cheek.

Jack blushed, lifting a hand to touch his crimson cheek where her lips and been. "Uh… yeah, sure… no problem."

"I don't think we should touch those bugs, though," Clark interjected. "Henderson may need them as evidence, you know."

"Oh. Right. Evidence. Evidence? But Luthor's dead." Jack looked more than a little confused.

"True, but he had plenty of hired help, and those people still need to be held accountable for their actions," Clark explained.

Jack nodded in understanding. "Well, if you want, I can go find Henderson, let him know they're there," he offered.

Lois's eyes widened, surprised that Jack would be willing to approach an officer of the law so readily. "Thank you," she told him. "I'd really appreciate that."

Jack nodded once more, then turned and disappeared into the slowly thinning crowd.

"Ready to get out of here?" Clark asked a moment later.

Lois nodded, and Perry led them down the road a ways to his illegally parked car. Upon spying a parking citation on his windshield, he snatched it up, crumbling it in his hand and muttering a disgruntled complaint. He opened his door and climbed in, unlocking the rest of the car.

Clark held the back door open for Lois as she crammed the voluminous layers of her wedding gown inside. Once she was seated, he climbed in beside her and pulled the door close. She immediately scooted as close to him as she could manage with the bulky gown, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer still. She rested her head on his shoulder with a weary sigh.

Perry started up the ignition and switched the air conditioning on high to cool down the stuffy car. The stereo came blaring to life, blasting them with the upbeat strains of Elvis's "Hound Dog". Perry chuckled as he pushed a button to wind the cassette past that track. "Seemed appropriate on the way over here," he told them. A moment later, the cassette automatically engaged in the next track. Perry lowered the volume to a more comfortable level as the gentle strains of "Love Me Tender" filled the car.

Halfway through the song, the front passenger door opened, and Jimmy climbed inside, setting Lois's small overnight case on his lap. "All set," he told them as he shut the door. "I ran into Jack on my way back. He said he'd catch up with us later."

Perry nodded, giving the young man a moment to fasten his seat belt before pulling away from the curb.

As they neared Clark's apartment, Perry spoke up. "I'll get a couple of hotel rooms for me and the boys so you two can have some, uh, privacy, to, uh, get reacquainted." He glanced back at Clark through the rearview mirror, a knowing grin quirking his lips.

"Thanks, Perry," Clark replied, mild embarrassment lightly staining his cheeks. Then they were pulling up to the curb in front of Clark's place. Once the car reached a full and complete stop, Clark opened the door and got out, reaching inside to give Lois a hand in extracting herself from the vehicle.

Jimmy opened his door and passed Lois's bag to Clark, who again thanked him profusely for all his help. "Anytime, man," he told Clark graciously before closing his door.

The couple stood outside for a moment, watching as Perry's car disappeared around the corner before turning to face one another. As their eyes met and locked, slow smiles crept across their faces. Clark pulled Lois in for a sweet kiss before turning to unlock his door. They entered the apartment hand in hand; the moment the door was closed, though, they fairly pounced on each other.

Bodies and mouths collided in a flurry of hunger and need. Lips crashed together, tongues danced and dueled, arms and hands tangled together. It was a very long time before they finally broke apart for desperately needed air.

Their breathing was heavy and ragged as they stared wordlessly at each other. Their eyes were dark with passion, and their smiling lips were just a little swollen from their enthusiastic activities. Clark reached up and gently removed the veil from Lois's head, smoothing her hair with his other hand as he dropped the headdress to the floor.

Lois sighed softly, reaching up to caress Clark's cheek. "It's really over," she said at last. "We're free!"

Clark grinned broadly, dipping his head down to capture her lips in a much gentler kiss than their encounter moments ago. When he pulled back, Lois's eyes were sparkling with unshod tears. He grazed his thumbs across her eyes, smoothing the moisture away.

"I need to get out of this dress," she said finally.

Clark grinned, waggling his eyebrows a little. "Need some help?"

Lois smiled back. "As a matter of fact, yes." She pulled herself out of his embrace and began walking down towards his bedroom. "This thing has all these tiny buttons in the back that I have no hope of reaching myself."

Clark remained on the landing for a moment, watching the gentle sway of her hips with great appreciation as she slowly made her way through the apartment. He shook his head in a vain attempt to clear some of the fog of desire that had clouded his brain. He picked up the overnight bag he had dropped during their frenzied encounter and followed her back to his room.

Lois came to a stop at the foot of the bed. Clark dropped the bag near her feet as he came up behind her, wrapping his arms low around her waist as he pressed feathery-soft kisses along her neck, then down the exposed flesh across her back. A soft moan escaped her lips, the sound sending tendrils of fiery longing racing through his blood. He slowly pulled his hands back around her waist, up her sides, finally coming to rest at her shoulders, all the while continuing to rain those light kisses across her skin.

His hands were actually trembling by the time he finally began to work at undoing the buttons of her gown. They were indeed tiny, and he fumbled a bit with the first ones. He finally had to stop kissing her, lifting his head so that he could see what he was doing. One by one, the buttons came undone, revealing her creamy skin a scant few millimeters at a time. It felt like a lifetime had come and gone by the time he finally slipped the last little button free.

He parted the fabric of her dress with both hands, smoothing them up across her back to her shoulders. Sliding his fingers beneath the soft material, he gently eased the sleeves down her arms. She pulled her hands out, resting them atop his as the dress finally fell to the floor. They stood still like that for a moment as their breaths caught.

Now clad in a simple, strapless, low-backed white brassiere and lacy white panties, Lois turned around and wrapped her arms around Clark's neck. His arms wrapped back around her waist as he pulled her firmly against him. He was utterly delighted by her playful smile as he lowered his mouth down to hers once again.

Before they could get too carried away, though, Lois broke apart, pulling back and bending to retrieve her overnight case. "I'll be right back," she told him with a slightly mischievous little grin. Clark groaned in mild frustration as he watched her disappear from sight.

Clark slipped out of his suit jacket, hanging it up in his closet as he toed off his shoes and socks. Next came the tie, then he unfastened his belt and slacks. As they dropped to the floor, a soft sigh behind him alerted him to Lois's return. He turned slowly, his eyes widening with warm appreciation as he took in the angelic sight of his beloved.

She was positively glowing as she smiled shyly at him. Her "wedding night" attire was a simple white gown. Thin strips of material held up the sweetheart neckline that barely contained the soft swell of her breasts. The silky fabric clung to every inch of her curves, flowing all the way down to the floor, and as she began to walk slowly towards his frozen form, a generous slit up one side parted to expose the creamy flesh of her long, shapely leg.

She came to stand before him, less than inches separating their bodies. Finally shaking off the awe that had momentarily paralyzed him, he brought his hands up to curve around her small waist, his fingers splayed out across her lower back. As the tips of his fingers grazed the naked flesh the low cut of the gown left exposed but unseen, he moaned. The embers of desire that she had left smoldering while she went to change suddenly erupted into a wild inferno that threatened to consume him instantaneously.

Keeping that modicum of space between them, Lois's hands came up to his chest and began working the buttons of his shirt free. As each one gave up its hold, she dropped hot, open-mouthed kisses onto his burning skin. Each point of contact between her hot, wet mouth and his body made him tremble. As she released the last button and dropped a kiss just at the top of his boxers, his knees nearly gave out beneath him.

She stood back up, dragging her hands up along his torso to his shoulders. She eased the material of his shirt down his arms, and he barely had the presence of mind to help pull his hands free of the garment. As it finally floated down to the floor, Lois wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him into her, pressing every inch of her body intimately into his. With a sound rumbling deep in his chest that was part groan and part growl, he claimed her mouth with his own.

Without warning, he scooped her up into his arms, causing her to cry out in surprise. The sound was immediately swallowed up in a passionate kiss as he crossed the short distance to his bed. He tore the comforter and sheet back singlehandedly before laying her down with great care, lowering himself down alongside her. Their kissing slowed, and they both pulled back at the same time to stare in affectionate wonder.

Clark slid one hand beneath her cheek, and she turned her head slightly into his soft touch, mimicking his gesture with her own hand. His other hand began trailing lightly along her neck, then across her shoulder, slipping beneath the thin strap and pulling it away from her body. He leaned forward then, pressing his lips into her soft skin, following the same path his fingers had taken. Not one millimeter was missed by his loving lips as he slowly worked his way around her throat, along her shoulder, then slowly down her arm.

She helped pull her arm free of the slight strip of fabric that was the strap of her gown, then held stock still as Clark began kissing her hand, slowly drawing each finger deep into his hot mouth. She sighed and trembled as he swirled his tongue around each digit while he slowly pulled it back out of his mouth. After her last finger slipped free, he pressed an open kiss into her palm, his tongue tracing each contour of her hand before he began dragging his mouth back up the inside of her wrist. Again he slowed as he reached the inside of her elbow, and again, his tongue teased the sensitive flesh there, drawing out a low moan of pleasure from Lois.

His questing mouth continued its upward trek, gliding across her collarbone to repeat those tenderly passionate caresses down her other arm. Again, each of her fingers was drawn into his mouth to be tasted, teased, and released. She was whimpering by the time he made his slow way back up that arm.

As he began kissing his way across the top of her chest, his hands slowly dragged the bodice of her gown downward, the slight material gliding over the swell of her breasts until those soft mounds practically sprang free of the fabric. His lips and tongue continued to work their magic as he worked his way slowly around one breast; meanwhile, one questing hand found the other, kneading it tenderly before trailing his fingers in slow circles. Around and around went his fingers on one side and his lips and tongue on the other, finally reaching each taut nipple simultaneously. He lightly pinched the sensitive flesh between his fingers while his lips latched on and drew her into his mouth. Then, as his tongue began swirling lazily around her, his thumb imitated the pattern on the other side.

Whimpers alternated with moans as Clark showered her with his physical loving. After a while, mouth and hand traded sides as she began moving beneath him, her back arching up, eager for closer contact. Clark lifted his head, releasing her from his mouth as his hand eased her back down into the soft mattress. He touched his lips to the valley between her breasts, his tongue darting out to taste her as he began moving inexorably lower once again.

He kissed and licked his way across every inch of her flat stomach, dragging her gown lower and lower as he went; she giggled lightly as her crossed sensitive patches along the sides of her abdomen, then moaned low and deep when his tongue dipped into her navel. Still his mouth and hands moved lower, along the slightly protruding bones of her pelvis, then down the outside of her left leg, his hands continuing to slide the negligee down as he went until she was finally completely liberated of the garment.

When he reached her foot, he gave it the same loving treatment her hands had received. He dropped a tender kiss against her instep, then the inside of her ankle, before he began his slow journey back up her leg. As he moved up the inside of her thigh, he dragged his tongue across her hot, sweet skin until he finally reached the glistening juncture between her legs. A low hum rumbled through his throat as he slid his tongue between her slick folds, dragging it slowly up to the very top. He pulled his tongue back into his mouth, savoring every nuance of her taste for a moment before moving over to her right leg, intent on lavishing the same loving ministrations her left had received.

By the time he finally made his way back to her center, she was starting to writhe beneath him, her hips tilted back and those slick, swollen folds straining towards him. The scent of her arousal filled his nostrils, almost overwhelming him. She was so ready for him that she was practically dripping wet. He thrust his tongue out to lap her sweet juices up into his mouth, his fingers moving to part her flesh. She spread her legs wide beneath him, begging for his touch with barely coherent murmurs. All too happy to give her anything and everything she wanted, he finally began exploring every nook and cranny of the very core of her. When at last he began focusing his attention on that tiny bundle of nerves that he had quickly learned gave her the utmost pleasure, her writhing intensified. She cried out his name, over and over, sometimes in praise, sometimes a plea. He slid two fingers deep inside her, thrusting slowly at first, then faster and faster, his lips and tongue also increasing in tempo until he was pulsating pure energy into her. He felt her tighten around him for an eternity before her climax finally ripped through her. She convulsed around and beneath him, and still he did not let up for even a second; if anything, intensifying until she finally screamed out his name before completely collapsing beneath him.

As she grew still beneath him, he finally slowed, then stopped his movements altogether. Eventually he had completely withdrawn from her and moved up to lay on his side next to her. He was content to simply stare at her for a while as her shallow breathing grew steady and even over several minutes time.

Rapture. That was the only word to describe the expression on her face. She was positively glowing in rapture, her lips turned up in a blissful smile. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, her head turning to the side to face him. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out. She tried a couple more times before giving up with a soppy smile.

"Speechless?" Clark asked, both amused and rather proud of himself. In answer, Lois dragged one hand up to caress his cheek, urging him towards her. Their lips met in a long, slow kiss.

As they continued to kiss some long moments later, Clark felt Lois pressing against him insistently until he had no choice but to fall back into the mattress beneath him. He felt her maneuvering over him, her warm and naked skin sending jolts of electricity into him at every single point of contact between them. He moaned into her mouth as it continued to plunder his, growing ever more passionate with every thrust of her tongue.

Without warning, she tore her mouth away from his, and he whimpered at the loss, feeling suddenly bereft, adrift. But that only lasted for the briefest second, for she almost immediately began trailing fiery kisses along the line of his jaw. He groaned when he felt her tongue tracing the contours of his ear. She pulled his earlobe in between her lips, then nibbled it between her teeth for a moment before releasing him.

She then kissed her way up across his forehead, and Clark couldn't resist the temptation when he peeked through his shuttered eyelids to see her breasts swaying gently before his face. He raised both hands to cups those soft globes. Before he could begin to appreciate the feel of their weight in his palms, though, she grabbed both of his hands in her own, lifting them up to pin them together over his head.

"Uh-uh," she told him with a shake of the head and a decidedly wicked gleam in her eyes. "Just lay back and enjoy," she whispered as she lowered her head back down to his other ear. Then her tongue darted out to tease that sensitive flesh the same as the other, and Clark quickly grew utterly incapable of anything resembling rational thought.

He let his eyes drift shut once more as she kissed her way down and around his throat to his broad chest. He felt his pectoral muscles twitch and flex beneath her exploratory lips and tongue; his back arched reflexively as she began to tease first one, then the other of his nipples. Her hands never stilled, alternately kneading and caressing the solid muscles of his chest, then his abs as her mouth kept working down lower and lower along his torso.

He gasped, his hips bucking up off the bed as she found his navel with her tongue. She giggled as she moved with him. Taking advantage of the opportunity presented, she slipped her fingers beneath the waistband of his boxers and began sliding them down over the generous curve of his posterior. Then she stretched the material in the front to accommodate the generous erection straining for freedom from the confines of the soft material. At last he bobbed free, fully exposed to her, as she dragged the boxers down his legs.

Her mouth had continued its journey, seeming bent on exploring every inch of him in the very same way he had familiarized himself with her body. The feel of her soft, hot lips across his skin was nearly unbearably arousing to both his body and his heart. Each sensation she evoked stole his breath, melting his insides even as he felt himself growing harder than diamonds as she finally made her way back to the one place on his body she had yet to begin stimulating.

Somewhere in the back of his foggy mind, he wondered if this rare physical vulnerability was contributing to the way he was responding to her, the way he was becoming so thoroughly overwhelmed by the feelings she wrought within him. Then he felt the tips of her fingers lightly stroking the length of his steely shaft, and all thoughts immediately flew out of his mind. A guttural moan filled the room, and a moment later he realized it had come from him.

Her fingers gently traced the length of him a few more times before those teasing digits curled completely around him, squeezing and sliding up and down his ample length. He felt her hot, moist breath flow ever the sensitive tip of his engorged member and he moaned yet again, trying vainly to press up into her, but she held him firmly, keeping her mouth achingly close but not quite making contact for what felt like an eternity.

When at last he felt her lips close around him, a ragged sigh of relief escaped his lips, followed immediately by a groan of sheer ecstasy as her tongue pressed into him as she slid him deeper and deeper down her throat, until he was buried to the hilt inside her hot, wet mouth. The hand that had been treating him to such great pleasure scant moments before had quested lower to gently cup his testicles, lightly rolling the delicate balls around as she slid her mouth back up his lengthy erection.

Her free hand came up to join her mouth then, squeezing him firmly as she slid her hand and mouth down, relaxing as she moved back up. Her tongue was swirling around and around with every mind-blowing pass, and he was totally lost in her. The feel of her completely surrounding him with her hands, her mouth, her love… it was quickly driving him out of his mind, and before he knew it, he was on the very edge of heavenly bliss.

He abruptly dug both of his hands into her hair, dragging her up away from him. "Lois…" he began raggedly, "I don't exactly have my…. Super-stamina… and if you don't stop now—

"Clark," she said, gently extracting his hands, "we have all the time in the world." She held his hands between hers for a quiet moment, gifting him with such a loving smile that he felt his heart melt all over again. Then she released his hands, and with a predatory gleam in her eyes, she dropped her mouth back down onto his throbbing erection.

Lips and tongues and hands and fingers picked up right where they left off, and he immediately felt his insides tensing in anticipation of his impending release. She increased her tempo, and he growled out her name as his orgasm finally exploded through him. She sucked greedily as wave after wave of his essence poured into her, his entire body convulsing and shuddering beneath her for an endless moment.

Some time later, he finally fell back into the soft mattress, feeling like his entire body was made of jelly. He lay there, barely aware of Lois moving up along side him. As full awareness slowly seeped back into his consciousness, he felt her fingers gently raking through his hair, tenderly massaging his scalp.

He raised heavy eyelids to gaze at her with eyes still dark and foggy with desire. "God, I love you, Lois," he told her, his voice husky and more than a little ragged.

She smiled in response, lowering her mouth to his for a lazy, sensual kiss. "I love you, Clark," she told him back as they parted a bit later.

He lifted a heavy hand up to trace the delicate curve of her cheek, marveling at the light of love shining brightly in her eyes for him. She tipped her head into his caress, turning to press a soft kiss into his palm as he continued lightly stroking her soft skin.

Just then, the phone rang, interrupting their gentle explorations. With a sigh of mild irritation, Clark reached over to his nightstand with his free hand, lifting the receiver to his ear. He immediately regretted the harsh bark he greeted the intrusive caller with when he recognized the voice of his former boss.

"What's up, Perry?" he asked in a much gentler voice. His eyes widened as he took in the news being delivered into his ear. "You're kidding!" he exclaimed when Perry finished. "Wow. Didn't see that coming," he mused aloud. "Yeah, I'll let her know. Thanks, Perry." He listened for a moment longer as Perry apologized for interrupting, then assured Perry that it was a worthwhile interruption before bidding him farewell. He disconnected the line, feeling a bit stunned as he absently returned the phone to the bedside table.

"What was that all about?" Lois asked, her voice filled with curiosity.

Clark returned his gaze to her, the shock finally subsiding, to be replaced with a sense of pure relief and undeniable satisfaction. "There was an accident… the coroner's van was struck by a propane tanker on its way downtown. Both the drivers made it out just before the whole thing exploded."

Lois's eyes grew wide for a split second, then a soft chuckle rumbled deep in her chest. "Well," she managed between fits of laughter, "I guess we won't have to worry about a certain arch-villain returning from the grave."

"Nope," Clark agreed with a broad smile. "It really is over."

Her laughter subsided then, her eyes filling with relief. "Thank God," she breathed.

"Yeah," he echoed. His hand, now tangled in her silky tresses, urged her head down to meet his in a lingering kiss. As she began to respond, her lips melding with his and her tongue dancing about deep in his mouth, Clark moaned happily as he felt a certain region of his anatomy also responding to their renewed activities.

He rolled her over to pin her body beneath his, the rapidly swelling evidence of his arousal pressing into her thigh. She shifted restlessly beneath him until he felt himself slip in between her legs. At the first hint of the warmth of her ready entrance, he felt his member stiffen fully, fairly roaring back to life and eager to be joined with her. He ground his hips forward, not quite ready to bring them to completion. As his tip pressed firmly into her thoroughly aroused and highly sensitive clitoris, she moaned low and deep.

"Please, Clark," she begged breathlessly. He pulled back, only to thrust forward against her again. She dragged her legs up along his, wrapping them high around his waist as she arched her pelvis towards him. Clark growled as he felt his tip pressing into her opening, sliding just the tiniest bit forward inside her. Still he held back, even as she pressed up higher into him. "Clark!" she cried out. "Please! I need you," she pleaded, her voice raspy and plaintive.

Clark dropped his head down to capture her mouth in a deeply passionate kiss as he finally filled her with one hard, deep thrust. Her entire body surrounding him, contracting around him, nearly sent him right over the edge with that first thrust.

He slid one arm beneath her, low around her waist, and pulled her upward as he lifted himself up onto his knees. She began immediately rocking against him, and the heady sensation of her moving over and around him threatened to truly drive him out of his mind. Holding her impossibly close, he somehow managed to slip his other hand between their bodies, his dexterous thumb finding the sensitive bundle of nerves hidden just above that place where their bodies were so intimately joined.

Her entire body reacted immediately, tightening around him, almost but not quite constricting his movements against her. He began thrusting in and out of her, slowly at first, but quickly escalating in tempo. Grunts and moans of passionate pleasure filled the room, the heavy scent of their activities surrounding them and arousing them further and further as they drove harder and faster together. He felt her entire body tense up around him just as his began doing the same, and they cried out together as their mutual climaxes consumed them in a tumultuous burst of light and sound and sensation.

They collapsed, landing on their sides, still intimately clenched together as consciousness slipped away.

~~*S*~~

Late the next morning, Lois and Clark had gathered with Perry and Jimmy for a final farewell to the remains of the Daily Planet.

"I know I've said this before," Perry growled, "but I hate that Luthor got his way, especially in this one thing," he finished, gazing sadly at the ruins.

"He didn't'!" The voice had come bellowing from out of sight around the corner, but shortly, a stout, dark skinned man emerged. "Look!"

Franklyn Stern gestured to the street he had come down as the roaring sound of a truck drowned out the cacophony of shouts from the small group. A large flatbed trailer backed into view, followed by an even larger crane. As soon as the truck stopped, workmen removed a large tarp off the object secured on the trailer: the familiar globe of the Daily Planet.

"Great shades of Elvis!" Perry exclaimed, his surprise echoed by the other three.

"We'll start on the building next week," Stern informed them. "But I thought we'd announce to the world that we're back in business. I thought about your proposal, and I agree with you. Metropolis, and the world, needs the Daily Planet. And one more nail in Luthor's coffin suits me just fine." The two older men moved off, continuing to discuss business.

"I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life," Clark breathed. Lois thought he was talking about the sight of the globe at first, but when she turned her head towards him, she realized he wasn't looking at the old landmark at all. He was staring at her with unabashed love.

"You never gave up," she said, her voice filled with wonder. "On the Planet, on your friends… on me," she finished quietly.

"How could I? You just named just about everything in the world that is precious to me." His smile was soft and filled with so much love it brought tears to her eyes.

"I don't think I will ever meet anyone quite like you," she told him softly. Clark pulled her into his arms for a brief hug before stepping back, a strange gleam in his eyes.

Curiosity tinted Lois's gaze, and when Clark began to lower his body to kneel before her, she gasped in wide-eyed amazement. She began to tremble as he slipped a hand inside his jacket, extracting a small, black velvet jeweler's box. He opened it to reveal the single most beautiful diamond ring she had ever laid her eyes on.

She was vaguely aware that the men across the way had suddenly halted their dialogue to watch the drama unfolding between her and Clark. She swallowed once, trying desperately to keep her knees from knocking as she continued to tremble before the sight of this incredible man kneeling at her feet.

"You are the most amazing woman I have ever known," Clark began, his voice low and filled with emotion. "You are stunningly beautiful, insanely brilliant, fearless, with unimpeachable integrity, and more passion than anyone I've ever known… I can't imagine my life without you in it. You give me more strength than I could ever manage alone. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I swear I will do everything in my power to make sure you are just as happy as you've made me." He took a deep breath before finishing. "Lois Lane, will you marry me?"

For a moment, she was rendered utterly speechless. She opened her mouth, her chin quivering as a tremulous smile filled her face. Unable to hold herself up a moment longer, she fell to her knees in front of Clark, wrapping her arms around his neck for support. "Yes," she whispered at last.

"Yes?" Clark echoed, incredulous.

Lois laughed. "Yes!" she shouted, finally finding strength in her voice. "I would be honored to marry you, Clark Kent." Before she could utter another word, and to the delighted cheers of their friends and every other onlooker that had crowded around them, he pulled her in for a deep, loving kiss.

~~*S*~~


	8. Chapter 8

~~*S*~~

Chapter Eight

~~*S*~~

It was early that evening by the time Lois and Clark made it back to his apartment. They had gone straight to the kitchen, not having had a chance to eat between learning the Daily Planet would be rebuilt, helping Perry lay the ground work to bring the phoenix of newspapers back to life and, of course, getting engaged.

Clark was at the stove stirring a thick, aromatic red sauce, while Lois tackled the challenge of tossing an edible salad. As she was dropping some vegetables into the bowl, she caught a glimpse of sparkling light reflecting off the ring on her left hand. She paused, hand in mid-air, staring at it with a slightly dopey smile.

"Like what you see?" Clark's voice came from right behind her, his mouth so close that his breath tickled the tiny hairs in her ear.

Lois giggled with a shiver. 'I probably look like some moony-eyed cheerleader, huh?" Clark chuckled, the muscles of his chest bouncing off her back. "I know. I just can't seem to stop myself, though. Every time I see it, it just takes my breath away."

Clark sighed softly, his breath whispering across her hair. "I know it doesn't compare with your last one."

"No. It most certainly doesn't." Lois turned around in his arms, facing him with her left hand suspended in the air between them. "This ring is a symbol of love. And each time I catch a glance, I think about what it means, about what you mean to me. This ring is absolutely perfect."

Clark smiled, and Lois felt her heart stutter, then flutter. As he lowered his head down toward her, she stretched up to meet his kiss.

Clark's kisses simply amazed Lois. Every time their lips met, it seemed magical the way his lips felt, the way he made her feel. Every kiss was like brand new, and yet they were so familiar that it felt like they had been doing this their whole lives.

Suddenly, Clark stiffened in her arms, and he tore away from their kiss so abruptly that Lois cried out in alarm.

"What's wrong, Clark?" she asked a moment later as he stood stock still.

His eyes were nearly glazed over as he gazed nowhere in particular, his mind obviously elsewhere. "I heard a radio broadcast; there's a boat sinking… it's full of people… it's a wedding reception!" His nearly whispered the words, his eyes wide in shock.

"You heard?" Lois asked, immediately picking up on the obvious. Well, obvious now that she knew what it was he was doing when he got those faraway looks.

Suddenly Clark grinned, floating up off the ground and hovering a couple of feet up before executing a perfect super-spin into his Suit. "I'm back!"

Lois grinned briefly before adopting a rather business-like expression. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go! Save the day—well, night."

Clark dropped down to the ground just long enough to give Lois a hard kiss before disappearing in a gust of wind. She stood there for a moment, a bit dazed, before shaking her head and turning her attention to the stove, where the sauce was still simmering unchecked. She experienced a moment of panic, but then took a deep breath.

"Get a grip," she told herself. "How hard can it be?" She stirred the sauce a little before deciding to turn the fire under it down to its lowest setting, figuring it would be less likely to burn that way. She glanced at the other pot on the stove, which held the pasta and was boiling fast and furious. A glance at the timer told her it needed a couple more minutes to cook before it would be ready to drain. She panicked again for a second before locating the colander needed to strain out the water.

"There," she said, feeling just the tiniest bit proud of her meager accomplishment. "Now if I can just keep from burning it to a crisp before Clark gets back, we can still have a decent dinner," she mused wryly.

When the timer dinged a couple of minutes later, she carefully drained the pasta, returned it to the pot and set it back on the extinguished burner. She debated trying to keep it warm until Clark returned, but dismissed the notion when it occurred to her that Clark could reheat it easily enough with the use of his heat vision. That thought evoked a soft chuckle as she recalled the numerous cups of cold coffee that had miraculously warmed up over the last year.

She went through the motions of setting the table, and even managed to open a bottle of wine after several minutes of rummaging through Clark's utensil drawers for a corkscrew he obviously had little need for. She had just finished and was standing back to admire her handiwork when she heard the rush of wind announcing Clark's return.

"That didn't take long," she called out.

Clark emerged from his bedroom clad in dark trousers and a black dress shirt, sans tie. "I got there before the boat had sunk too far. Pulled it out, took it back to shore. No one was hurt, fortunately."

"That's good." She met him at the entry of the kitchen, and they exchanged a brief, warm kiss. "Any idea what caused it?"

"Sabotage." Clark was frowning slightly as Lois moved out of his embrace. "Though who would want to sabotage a wedding reception is beyond me."

"Jealous ex?" Lois mused.

"Could be, I guess," Clark replied. "The police will be investigating."

Lois felt her old reporter's instincts kick into gear. "Think we should give them a hand?"

"Well, we don't exactly have a paper to print the story in just yet," Clark pointed out. "It's going to be a few weeks before the Planet is back in circulation."

"True," Lois replied, disappointment tinting her voice.

"Besides… we have plenty of things to keep us busy for a while. We do," he said with a sly smile lighting his face, "have a wedding of our own to plan."

Lois smiled brightly in return. "And I can't wait to get started. You weren't expecting a long engagement, I hope!"

Clark grinned, a little twinkle of mischief sneaking into his eyes. "Definitely not. In fact, if you told me you wanted to elope, I'd have you out the door and in front of a minister faster than you could blink!"

Lois laughed out loud. "I don't think I want to get married quite that soon!"

"It's totally up to you," he said, his voice becoming serious. "Today, or in a week, or a month, or a year… as long as I know we're going to be spending the rest of our lives together, I am a happy man."

Lois's smile softened as she took in his words. "Well, I don't want to wait a year," she said at last. "But I could probably put something together in a couple of months or so."

"Sounds great to me," Clark said as he nodded, kissing her softly before moving over to the stove. "Well, it doesn't look like you burned anything while I was out," he teased.

Lois grinned proudly. "I just turned the fire down on the sauce and drained the pasta. Wasn't too hard."

Clark turned off the burner and fetched a bowl from the cupboard into which he poured the sauce. The pasta was put into a second bowl and he carried both to the table. Lois gave her salad a quick toss before joining him at the table, salad in hand.

As she sat down, Clark filled their glasses with the wine she had opened, then sat down, lifting his glass in salute. "To us," he said softly.

Lois clinked her glass against his, quietly echoing his brief toast. He served them both and they began to eat. Lois hummed in delight as she savored her first bite of the delicious dish. Not much conversation was to be had as they consumed their meal, but as they were finishing, Clark clear his throat.

"So I was thinking…"

"Uh oh," Lois teased. "That could be dangerous."

"We still need to tell our parents," he replied. "I was thinking maybe we could go out to Smallville tomorrow to tell my folks."

"That sounds like a great idea." Lois sighed, leaning back against her chair and enjoying the sensation of having a full stomach. "I really do love your parents, Clark. They're so… not crazy!"

Clark laughed. "I couldn't possibly wish for better. I'm incredibly lucky they found me."

"The world is incredibly lucky they found you," Lois told him. "I can't imagine anyone doing a better job raising the world's greatest superhero." Clark blushed gracefully at her soft praise. "I mean, can you imagine what you might have turned out like if you'd had parents like mine?" She actually shuddered at the thought.

"Well, you turned out pretty decent, so they must have done something right," Clark said, standing up to clear the table.

"I think that was more luck than anything," she told him wryly as she rose to help with the after dinner clean -up. "I'm not really looking forward to breaking the news to them," she admitted a moment later.

"Why not?" Clark set the dish he was rinsing in the sink and turned to face Lois. "I'm sure they'll be happy for you."

Lois's breath came out in a huff. "Mother will flip out, considering my last trip down the aisle. And Daddy… well, he didn't even bother showing up yesterday, so I doubt he's going to have much interest this time, either."

Clark dried his hands off on a towel and pulled Lois into his arms. "That must have hurt," he murmured sympathetically.

"A little, I guess." Her voice was muffled as she kept her head buried in the crook of his neck for a moment. She lifted her head back up to meet his gaze before continuing. "Probably would have been worse if it had been the real deal. Since it was all a hoax, it was almost a relief, actually. It was hard enough keeping up the act around my mother."

"Well, you won't be acting this time." Clark grinned broadly, provoking a wide beam from Lois in return.

"Nope. I plan on being deliriously happy this time!" she told him, earning a deep, loving kiss from her fiancé. "So," she began a bit later. "Smallville tomorrow?"

"Yeah. We can tell my folks, and later we can fly back to Metropolis and tell yours."

"Much later," Lois amended. "I don't even know if we'll be able to track down my father."

"We'll find him," Clark reassured her. "And I'm sure they'll both be happy for us."

"Maybe," she replied, not sounding at all convinced.

"They will," he replied firmly. "When they see how deliriously happy you are, they won't be able to help themselves."

His steady confidence and reassurance warmed her heart, and Lois felt like she was falling in love with him all over again. She pulled his head back down to meet hers in a kiss filled with all the love and hope that he filled her with. Desire swept through them both, consuming them in its fiery inferno. Clark swept her up into his arms and floated them to his bed, where they made slow, passionate love long into the night.

~~*S*~~

It was early the next morning that Clark found himself in one of his all-time favorite positions: soaring high above the Great Plains of the United States, the single greatest love of his life cradled in his arms. He breathed a slow sigh of deep and utter contentment, briefly pulling her impossibly closer to his chest.

As he relaxed his embrace, he pulled his arm out from underneath her legs. He adjusted the angle of their flight into a gentle ascent as her lower half slid down the length of his body. He held her suspended beside him with one arm wrapped tightly about her waist. Then, after a quick glance to assure that she felt comfortable and secure, he grinned and took them up sharp and fast, executing an adrenaline-rush-inducing loop-de-loop high in the clear blue sky.

Lois was laughing with delight as they settled back into their standard flying formation, and Clark couldn't resist laughing along with her. After their chuckles finally subsided, he lowered his mouth to hers for a leisurely kiss.

Lois's kisses never ceased to amaze Clark. Each one felt wholly fresh, like they were kissing for the first time… and yet, they were familiar, achingly so, as though they had been kissing like this since the dawn of time.

When at last he lifted his head, he had to glance around to regain his bearings. He adjusted their course, and resumed their journey to Smallville to share their good news with his parents.

They would be thrilled, he was sure. They had certainly been relieved to hear from him earlier that morning. They had, of course, seen the news coverage of Luthor's aborted wedding and his abrupt demise. Their concern for Lois's well-being in the aftermath had been as natural as it was touching. They had clearly accepted her into the family, completely and whole-heartedly, as he had known they would.

But something his mother had said, something that had disturbed him when she said it, suddenly came back to haunt him now. "It can't be easy for you, Clark. Knowing you played a part in bringing a man to take his own life."

He hadn't let himself think about it in those terms. He'd been so relieved that it was over, that he and Lois were finally free to be together after such an anguishing separation, that hardly anything in the way of rational thought had been able to penetrate his consciousness.

Until this morning.

He had helped drive a man to suicide. It was an undeniable fact.

Never mind that said man had been the perfect example of mankind at his worst, most corrupt. That he was truly evil personified. He had been a man, a human being, and even his life held some unquantifiable value.

Never mind that it had been that very man's own actions that had rendered Clark incapable of saving his life. He was dead, and Clark knew he had directly contributed to his fate.

He also found it disturbing that he hadn't felt bothered by this for so long. He had practically celebrated Luthor's death! Hardly behavior befitting a superhero, he thought darkly. If the world knew he were capable of such vindictive indifference, would they still hold him in such high regard? He doubted it. The world was still cynical by and large, and lowering Superman's lofty pedestal by even just a few notches would irrevocably damage the public trust he had fought so hard to build over the last year. It was fortunate, he reflected guiltily, that the world knew nothing of this particular failing of their esteemed idol.

As bad as all that was, though, that wasn't all. There was one final, deeply disturbing detail that did not escape his dark musings.

He wasn't the only responsible party, and his partner in crime, his beloved accomplice in this disastrous fait accompli hadn't yet shone any signs of being the slightest bit disturbed by her role in the final act of Luthor's demise. Her actions had led just as directly to that ledge as Clark's own, perhaps more so. She had duplicitously deceived Luthor; she'd publicly humiliated him with deliberate premeditation.

And he had condoned it, supported it. He had been with her every step of the way. They had worked together, the unbeatable team, and they had brought down the greatest criminal mind the world had seen in generations. The world would unarguably be a better place for it. But could even those ends justify the ruthless means they had employed to achieve it?

"Clark?" Lois's soft voice in his ear drew Clark partly out of his dark reverie. "What's wrong?"

It was only at her query that Clark realized that his expression had betrayed his inner turmoil. He felt torn. He wanted to talk to her, but he just couldn't seem to find the words. He closed his eyes, finally, and growled out a frustrated apology, unable to release the maelstrom of conflicting feelings pent up within him. Then he felt the soft touch of her fingertips smooth across his brow. He lifted heavy lids to meet her gaze with eyes darker than the sky on a moonless night.

Finally, it was once again her soft voice that broke the silence. "Whatever it is… just don't obsess too long, Clark." She pressed a soft kiss onto his cheek before resting her head back on his shoulder.

Clark only had a moment to marvel at how well Lois knew him before he realized his parents' farm was fast approaching. As they neared, Clark caught sight of his father at the fence along the back side of the property. He was struggling with a large fencepost that was stubbornly leaning to one side. Clark glanced around briefly to confirm that none of the distant neighbors were within eyesight, and then brought them to land a short distance from his dad.

Once they were settled on terra firma, Clark tucked Lois's left hand in his, curling his fingers around and effectively hiding the tell-tale adornment on her finger from sight. He lifted their joined hands up to drop a soft kiss on the back of hers. She gave him a bright smile, one of those brighter-than-the-sun beams that never failed to do wonderful things to his heart and soul, and Clark felt his dark mood evaporate under its warmth.

He returned her smile in full, dropping one more kiss to her hand before turning to approach his father, who was still struggling with the post. He was completely oblivious to their presence until Clark cleared his throat. This caused Jonathan Kent to jerk up, even though his arms were still wrapped around the stuck post. He grunted as he released the lumber, one of his hands snaking around to rub his back.

"Clark!" He turned to his son with a surprised smile. "I really wish you wouldn't sneak up on me like that… I didn't even hear you land, son."

Clark smiled in sheepish apology. "Sorry, Dad." He grabbed hold of the fence post that had just been giving his father such grief. "Need a hand?" He asked as he straightened the offending wood.

"Thanks, son," Jonathan told him as he pulled a battered bandanna out of his pocket to wipe the sweat off his brow.

"Back giving you problems?" Clark asked when Jonathan again rubbed his lower back in apparent discomfort.

"Yeah…" His father appeared somewhat abashed at this admission. "I strained it last week getting a box of your mother's art supplies out of the barn loft."

"You should have called me," Clark admonished.

"You were a little busy, if I recall," Jonathan chided back. "Something about ending the tyrannical rule of a villainous fiend, if I recall correctly."

"Well, yeah…" Once again, Clark's smile was decidedly awkward. "But I still could have made time to give you a hand."

"Don't worry about it, Clark. I'll be fine." Jonathan pocketed the dampened kerchief and directed his attention to Lois. "Lois," he greeted, his voice suffused with warmth. "Always good to see your lovely smile."

"It's good to see you, too, Jonathan," Lois replied. She leaned forward, stretching up on her tiptoes, and placed a familial kiss on his cheek. "We got out of Metropolis just in time to avoid the flock of vultures that finally made their way to Clark's door." At Jonathan's wry grin, she added, "I know, I was one of those vultures not so long ago—which is why I can honestly say, it's better to report the news than to be it."

Jonathan let out a hearty chuckle. "Seems to me you've made the headlines yourself more than a few times in your career."

Lois rolled her eyes. "So much for not getting involved with my stories," she mused with due chagrin.

"So you routinely break two out of three of your 'rules of reporting'," Clark chimed in, his fingers outlining quotation marks in the air. "Not bad," he finished with a slightly smug grin.

"I still get there first!" Her voice was indignant, and as she spoke, Lois rolled her eyes once more. But to Clark's delight, it was accompanied this time by a very becoming rose blush.

"Well, let's get you kids on up to the house. I'm sure Martha's anxious to see you both." Jonathan turned and the trio made their way down the fence back to the house. "Any big plans to keep yourselves out of trouble till the paper is up and running?" Jonathan asked as they negotiated the rough terrain of the field's edge.

Clark winked at Lois before answering. "Oh, I'm sure we'll have plenty to keep us busy."

"You were certainly never the type to lounge around doing a whole lot of nothing," his father replied. He grinned at Lois and gestured at a height just below his generous waist. "Back when he was this high, we couldn't get that boy to sit still for five minutes if we tied him down."

Lois laughed. "Well," she said with twinkling eyes, "some things never change!"

"Says the woman who redefines the word 'manic' every time she gets a hot lead," Clark teased back. "And who invents yet another, wilder definition with the judicious use of a triple espresso and a Double Fudge Crunch bar."

"Only in an emergency situation," she told Jonathan seriously.

"And what constitutes such an emergency?" Clark knew he was baiting her, but it was just too much fun to think about stopping.

"The all-nighter it took to figure out what besides Superman could be scorching Metropolis in the dead of winter." She eyed Clark with smug satisfaction written all over her face. "And I'd say that one paid off rather well, wouldn't you?"

Jonathan laughed aloud at the bantering between the smitten duo. "You two have certainly shared an interesting history, I'll give you that!"

"And you've only had one side of it—till now, that is!" Lois's eyes glinted with mischief in the bright Kansas sun.

Jonathan chuckled again as they finally reached the front porch of the old farmhouse. "You have definitely found your match, Clark." His voice was filled with a father's proud admiration.

Clark met his father's smile with a warm grin. Then he turned to meet the twinkling stare of his future wife. "Indeed I have," he agreed softly, his smile full of loving adoration.

"Is that who I think it is?" Martha Kent's voice boomed out through the screen door, and the three turned to see her silhouette appear there. The door was quickly flung open, and Martha came out smiling broadly. "I thought so! Come here, you two!"

Lois and Clark crossed to his mother and all three embraced in a laughter-filled group hug. "Come on in," she told them. "You, too, Jonathan," she called out over her shoulder as she ushered the young couple inside. "I just finished making some lemonade, and at least two of you look like you could really use some."

"Well, even if I don't need it, I still enjoy it," Clark told his mom. He and Lois sat at the table, and Clark pulled their joined hands over to rest on his knee. His fingers began toying with her ring as a bubble of anticipation rose up unexpectedly. A slight nod of Lois's head made him look up into her eyes; she winked at him, prompting Clark to chuckle softly.

Meanwhile, Jonathan made use of the kitchen sink to splash some cold water across his face. He was still toweling off the moisture as he joined Clark and Lois at the table. Martha set four glasses on the table, then returned with the promised pitcher of icy lemonade. She served them all before finally taking her own seat.

"So," Martha began after everyone had a moment to savor their first sips of the sweet and sour cocktail. "What's this big news you couldn't wait to tell us but couldn't tell us over the phone?"

Lois laughed. "Direct and to the point. I love your mother, Clark!"

"I'm rather fond of her," Clark agreed with a big grin. "All right. The big news." He took a deep breath before turning to face his parents directly. "Mom, Dad… Lois and I are getting married."

Martha cried out in delight, clapping her hands together as tears of joy began welling up in her eyes; Jonathan was proudly beaming at them.

"He proposed yesterday," Lois supplied. "In front of the Daily Planet, right after we found out it would be rebuilt. It was absolutely perfect."

"Oh, I am so happy for you," Martha sighed. "For both of you. You've both waited so long, and you've been through so much…"

"Congratulations, you two," Jonathan chimed in when his wife faltered. "Goodness knows you've earned it!"

Clark and Lois both gave their thanks, and then Clark finally pulled Lois's hand up, kissing it once more before releasing it so that she could finally share with them the ring he had so carefully chosen for her.

"Oh, it's just beautiful," his mother said appreciatively. She met Lois's eyes with a teary gaze. "It suits you perfectly."

"I think so," Lois agreed with a soft smile.

Clark draped his right arm across her shoulders and pulled her close. He picked up her hand with his left one, lifting it up to kiss her finger just above the ring. "I'm just glad it's my ring you're wearing. Finally."

"Oh, Clark," Lois breathed, her expression filling with remorse.

Clark's eyes narrowed as the weight of his words suddenly came crashing down on him. He had been so careful to quash any hint of jealous feelings throughout his recent ordeal, and he'd never before considered himself to be a possessive person, and yet… He couldn't deny the bitter, acidy burn of both of those dark and unwelcome emotions which tainted the words he had just spoken. Clark abruptly tore his gaze away from Lois, rising from the table and leaving the house without another word.

He made it down the steps and was staring up into the sky, contemplating a flight straight into the void of outer space, when he heard the screen door open and close bend him. He had expected Lois to follow him out, so he was somewhat surprised to realize that it was his mother who had come out to talk with him.

"Do you want to talk?" His mother's voice was soft and soothing, and Clark was grateful for her comforting presence.

He heaved a heavy sigh, raking his right hand through his hair. "I guess it all affected me more than I realized."

"You've always been inclined to internalize your feelings," Martha said gently. "And it's always worried me. It's just not healthy to keep your feelings bottled up, Clark. They boil over eventually, and when that happens… anyone close to you stands a good chance of getting burned."

"I know," Clark admitted quietly. "But I'm not exactly the kind of guy who can afford to give free reign to my negative feelings."

"Maybe not," Martha conceded, "but you need to vent them once in a while, or you will explode."

"I know." He sighed once more as his mind continued to struggle for words.

"You spent six weeks watching the woman you love act like she wanted to spend the rest of her life with your worst enemy," Martha supplied after a lengthy silence. "That alone would be enough to drive most men out of their minds with jealousy."

"I'm not most men," Clark replied automatically.

"No, you're not," she agreed. "Which is why you were able to hold it together so well."

"Lois had enough to worry about without me adding 'jealous boyfriend' to her plate." His fists clenched at his sides. "But seeing her with him, watching him strut around like he was king of the world with Lois as the trophy of his victory… There were more than a few times that I wanted to rip his black heart out of his chest with my bare hands."

"But you didn't," Martha reminded him.

"I wanted to," Clark repeated. "Sometimes… I wanted it so badly that it made my hands shake. Maybe that's why—" He broke off abruptly, clenching his teeth so hard his jaw would have ached were he a normal man.

"Why what?" Martha prodded.

"I drove a man to take his own life." His eyes grew dark and his voice filled with guilt. "I helped Lois deceive him. I destroyed everything he had fought so viciously for, and I helped ensure his complete and public humiliation. My actions directly contributed to his jump from that ledge."

"He made the decision to jump," Martha interjected. "It was his choice, Clark."

"But I still helped drive him to that point. The things Lois and I did… we may as well have pushed him ourselves."

"But you didn't," Martha insisted. "And what's more, it was never your intention for him to die. You were trying to bring a very bad man to justice, Clark. A man responsible for God only knows how many destroyed lives. And I, for one, can't help feeling that he got exactly what he deserved."

"You sound like Lois," Clark told her, a small but dark smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

Martha frowned. "I got the impression you hadn't talked to her about this."

"Not really," he admitted. "I just don't know what to say to her."

"You hold her responsible for what happened as much as you're blaming yourself," his mother filled in astutely.

"Maybe," he said reluctantly. "Probably. I mean… She deliberately deceived and humiliated him. But the part that's really bothering me is that she… she doesn't seem too bothered by it at all."

Martha sighed thoughtfully; it was a good long moment before she replied. "I think Lois probably feels that her actions were justified, considering who it was she was deceiving and what he had done to her, and to so many others. It may not have been the most… morally upright approach, but all things considered, I'm sure Lois feels that Lex Luthor got his just desserts."

"She wanted vindication," Clark returned, his voice unrelenting and unforgiving. "She wanted him to suffer."

"I don't doubt it," his mother replied. "Look at what he did to her, Clark. He destroyed her job—and he didn't just destroy the job itself, but the entire newspaper that she loved so dearly. And he had been deceiving her from the beginning with that philanthropic humanitarian act. So was it really so wrong for her want to turn the tables on him the way she did?"

Clark shook his head uncertainly, his mind in turmoil and his mouth once more unable to form words.

"Is this what you couldn't talk to me about earlier?" At the unexpected sound of Lois's voice, Clark spun on his heel to find her standing at the top of the porch steps. He realized that he'd been so absorbed in his internal conflict that he hadn't even heard her come outside.

"You two obviously need to talk," Martha said after an awkward silence. "I'll go back inside." She patted Clark's arm before walking back towards the farmhouse. She paused when she reached Lois. "This is really tearing him up." Her voice was soft, but not quite soft enough to slip past Clark's sensitive hearing. He turned his back on them both, but, of course, he couldn't avoid hearing her next words. "You might have to drag the words out of him, honey, but you two really do need to talk this out."

Clark held himself rigidly still as he listened to the sounds of his mother's exit into the house. He heard Lois's heart begin to beat faster over the din of her approaching footsteps. He remained frozen as he felt her hands lightly caress his back, but he couldn't keep himself from relaxing a little beneath her touch.

"I know you were never completely comfortable with my plan, but I don't think I fully appreciated the toll it took on you." Her hands dropped away then, and Clark felt acutely bereft from the loss of that small physical connection. She moved around to stand in front of him; one hand came up to rest lightly on his chest. "Please don't shut me out, Clark," she pleaded softly. "Talk to me."

When at last he spoke, his voice was so soft and low, she had to strain to hear it. "Doesn't it bother you, Lois? We drove a man to suicide. It bothers me. A lot."

Her hand dropped away and he saw her clenching both fists at her sides. "That man was a monster," she replied firmly. "An evil, corrupt, vicious monster who was responsible for countless deaths and even more ruined lives. He tried to kill you, on several occasions. He destroyed the Daily Planet, and he would have destroyed me had you not opened my eyes to who he really was. That man got exactly what he deserved."

Clark's eyes narrowed. "You think he deserved to die?"

Lois held her ground, her eyes and body language unyielding. "Yes, I do."

Clark was just as unyielding. "He deserved to be brought to justice, to be held accountable for his actions. Not to be driven to such desperation that he felt his only option was death."

"I don't think it was desperation that made him jump off that ledge," Lois told him. "I think it was hubris. Do you know what he said before he jumped?" Clark shook his head. "Henderson told me when he called this morning about getting my official statement. Right before he jumped, he said 'Lex Luthor will not live in a cage.' He couldn't face living in one, but he wanted you to die in one."

Clark closed his eyes as memories of his time in that god awful prison assailed him. He remembered the agonizing pain, the despair… and the look of smug satisfaction on Luthor's face as he'd told Clark of his intentions for Lois before bidding Clark a "nice death." He heaved a shuddering sigh when he felt Lois's hand return to his chest, but only when it slid upward to gently cup his cheek did he finally open his eyes to meet hers.

"Don't you think Lex Luthor got exactly what he deserved?" Lois asked him, her voice steely and quiet.

"Maybe he did," Clark conceded after a long, tense moment. "But that doesn't mean that the way we went after him was right, and I still can't believe it doesn't bother you."

Her hand dropped back down again. "Oh, Clark… I'm sorry you feel that way. And I'm sorry that it's troubling you so much. But considering everything he did, everything he was… The truth is… I'm glad I did what I did. Even a little proud of the role I played in bringing him down. I never expected it to end the way it did; I figured he'd be taken into custody, call up his army of lawyers and mount a ferocious legal battle. But I'm really not surprised that he preferred death to losing control of his life by way of a prison sentence." She paused, taking a deep, steadying breath. "And now it's finally over. We're finally free. We never have to worry about his dark shadow looming over us ever again, and I feel… relieved."

"I think you mean vindicated," Clark said darkly. "Isn't that what you said you wanted? Vindication?"

"Yes. It is," Lois replied. "And I do feel vindicated. After what he did to me, to you, to us, I think I have every right to feel that way. And maybe that means I'm not as good a person as you, but I am only human, after all. We're just not as pure of heart as Superman."

"I thought I would love everything about you," Clark said on a weary sigh. "I guess that was just a foolish romantic notion."

"A very sweet notion, but a little unrealistic. Clark…" She faltered, worry and fear creeping into her eyes. "I hate to ask this, but… is this something you can live with?"

"Lois." He practically growled her name as his arms came up to enfold her in an almost crushing embrace. "Just because I found out something I don't like about you doesn't mean I don't love you." He felt her tremble in his arms and relaxed his grip a little in response; his hands began smoothing gentle circles across her back. "There isn't a force in this universe that could change that. I will always love you, Lois."

~~*S*~~


	9. Chapter 9

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Chapter Nine

******

They ended up spending a full week in Smallville. Jonathan's back was giving him a lot more trouble that he'd wanted to admit, and Clark naturally felt duty bound to help out so that his father could recuperate without fear of the farm falling apart without him. Lois had insisted that she was happy to stay in the small country town, claiming she needed the break after the last several tumultuous weeks, but Clark suspected her motivation had as much to do with forestalling the inevitable meeting with her own parents as any desire for some time off.

They'd made the most of their unplanned vacation, at least when Clark wasn't busy taking care of farm business or making his expected patrols of Metropolis as Superman. They'd even manage to have a few honest to goodness dates, something they hadn't been able to do during that difficult investigation. They enjoyed the freedom of finally being able to openly act like a couple, to let the world see them enjoy being in love. They even shared a few laughs over the unconventional progress of their relationship—from partners to friends, to lovers, to co-conspirators, to betrothed, to dating.

That's not to say that everything had been sunshine and roses between Lois and Clark. Their conflicting viewpoints regarding their roles in Luthor's downfall still lingered between them, and the unresolved tension had a tendency to flare up unexpectedly, creating an unnatural distance between them that each secretly feared would never be bridged. This should have been the happiest time in their lives, as they were planning their wedding secure in the knowledge that they would spend the rest of their lives together. Instead, there was a constant shadow hanging over them, and no matter how hard they tried to ignore it, it effectively dimmed their otherwise bright future.

Lois had done a lot of serious soul searching over the last week, but no matter how deep she dug, and even though she truly wished she could, if only for Clark's sake, she simply could not find any hint of guilt or remorse over her role in Luthor's death. And that fact that she couldn't did bother her. It bothered her a lot. Add to that the weight of the fact that her lack of remorse still upset Clark, which was deeply troubling, and the fact that he still carried the burden of guilt over his own actions, and the sum of those facts could only mean one thing. Clark Kent was a far better person than she.

And that being so, how could she possibly hope to be his equal? Could she live with such an unbalanced relationship? She couldn't fathom an answer to either of those questions, and she felt like her very soul was being torn into to unequal pieces. A very long, weary sigh slipped past her lips.

It was fairly late in the evening before they planned to return to Metropolis, and Lois was pacing in circles around the sofa in the Kent's living room. Clark was moonlighting in his spandex Suit on patrol in Metropolis. A cordless phone was gripped tightly in her hand; she'd already made three attempts to dial her mother's number, only to hang up before entering the last digit.

"Lois, honey, if you keep that pace up, you'll wear a hole in the floor big enough for the entire couch to fall through." Martha had just finished thoroughly cleaning the kitchen, ostensibly to give Lois some privacy for her call. But after listening to Lois's pacing footsteps for twenty minutes straight, it was all she could stand. She went in to offer Lois some moral support.

Lois's pace slowed, but it didn't stop. "Sorry, Martha. I guess I'm just a little nervous. I know she's not going to take the news well."

"You weren't planning on telling her over the phone, were you?

"No, I was just going to tell her that I'd be over tomorrow. Find out what time would be good for her." Lois sighed as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Jeez, this is worse than making a dentist appointment."

Martha laughed lightly. "Oh, Lois, maybe it won't be that bad. She might even surprise you—be happy for you."

"That would definitely surprise me," Lois said in her most cynical voice. "You don't know my mother. I'm sure she went nuclear when she realized that wedding had been a hoax. And I'm sure I'll be catching some heat when I call her, since I haven't contacted her even once since that whole fiasco erupted last week."

"Well," Martha replied, "perhaps you should treat it like pulling off a band-aid. One quick rip that hurts like heck, but only for a second."

'You're right." Lois sucked in mighty lungful of air and then dialed her mother's number fast as humanly possible. Her heart seemed to pound harder with each ring. It took a full seven rings for Ellen Lane to answer.

"Hello, Mother," Lois greeted. "I apologize for calling so late. I didn't wake you, did I?"

"Lois!" Her mother's voice was filled with both surprise and relief. "Where in the world have you been all week? I've been so worried about you."

"I'm sorry," Lois repeated. "I had to get away from my fellow media hounds, so I took Clark up on his offer to go with him out to Smallville for a visit with his parents. We left just before the flock of vultures descended on his place."

"You should have called me," Ellen said in that voice of hers that guaranteed a guilt trip.

"I'm sorry," Lois said for the third time. "We'll be heading back Metropolis tomorrow, and I'd like to see you. There's something I need to tell you, but it really should be in person. Are you free tomorrow evening?"

"Probably, if it's after eight," Ellen answered.

"All right, why don't we plan on coming over at eight-thirty?"

"That will be fine. And maybe then you can explain to me why you couldn't see fit to tell your mother that the whole wedding was nothing more than a charade." No one in the world was better at inducing guilt trips than Ellen Lane.

"We couldn't tell anyone, Mother," Lois replied defensively. "It was just too risky."

"Hmmph. Your faith in me is overwhelming," Ellen replied caustically.

"I have to go, Mother." Lois was more than ready to end this conversation. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"We?"

"Clark and I," Lois clarified.

"I see." Ellen was silent for a long moment. "Well, I guess I'll see the two of you tomorrow."

"Eight-thirty. Good night, Mother."

"Good night, Lois."

Lois heaved a sigh of relief when she heard the line disconnect. She returned the phone to its base and sat down on the couch. Martha sat down beside her and laid a gentle hand on Lois's shoulder. She lightly massaged the tight, tense muscles there. After a few moments, Lois sighed as that tension slowly ebbed away under Martha's comforting touch.

"It could have been worse, I suppose," Lois said after a while. "But I'm afraid now that it's just the calm before tomorrow's wild storm."

"Brace for the worst, hope for the best," Martha replied sagely. Lois nodded her agreement.

Having dealt with as much of her mother as she could stand for one evening, Lois changed the subject. "Would you mind if I turn on the TV? Clark should have been back by now. I'm hoping the news might tell us what delayed him."

"Sure," Martha replied. She picked the remote up off the end table and turned on the electronic window to the world. She switched it to LNN and the two sat through several stories that offered no clue as to Clark's whereabouts. After thirty minutes with no indication of any major Superman-worthy crises, they were about to turn the television back off when the anchor announced a headline that immediately caught Lois's attention.

"The Wedding Destroyer strikes again!" Lois gasped, absently dropping the remote into her lap.

"It hasn't been a good spring for weddings this year," the report continued. "Last week witnessed the abrupt and shocking disruption of the highly publicized wedding between corrupt billionaire Lex Luthor and former Daily Planet investigative reporter Lois Lane. But this was but one in a string of weddings to turn into nightmares over the last month.

"For the fourth week in a row, a criminal mastermind the media has dubbed 'The Wedding Destroyer' has disrupted a high society wedding this evening. Three weeks ago, a bomb threat brought the Dillon-St. Peters wedding to an abrupt halt. Two weeks ago, all of the guests at the Myerson-Chabot wedding came down with a case of food poisoning that was determined to have originated in the wedding cake. Last week, a boat hosting the reception for the Hensley-O'Connell union was sabotaged and began to sink in Metropolis harbor. Fortunately, Superman was able to reach the boat before that disaster became a catastrophe."

"It's a good thing I got my powers back in time." Clark's voice startled both women. They had been so absorbed by the newscast that they hadn't heard his arrival. After exchanging brief smiles, all three turned their attention back to the television as the anchor continued his captivating report.

"And now, today's incident at the De La Croix-McMurdy wedding. As the minister presiding over the ceremony asked for any objections to the union, hordes of rats swarmed through the elegant Our Lady of Metropolis cathedral. In the ensuing chaos, one guest was severely injured after falling in the midst of the hysterical stampede and remains hospitalized in serious condition. The police have determined these events to be the actions of a single individual, but haven't yet identified a suspect."

Lois turned the television off as the report moved onto sports news. She turned to Clark with an all-too-familiar gleam in her eyes. "I want that story."

"And what do you plan to do with it when you get it?" Clark queried as he walked around the sofa. "It's still going to be a few weeks before the Planet's back in circulation." He moved to sit down beside her, but she jumped up and resumed her pacing of earlier. Though it was markedly less frenetic this time, he could practically see pure energy radiating from her.

"It's not like there aren't any other newspapers out there that would be interested in publishing a Lane and Kent story," she replied pragmatically. "This lunatic needs to be stopped, and the police are obviously banging their heads against the proverbial brick wall. This Wedding Destroyer character has wrecked four weddings in as many weeks… Besides, what if whoever it is gets it into their head to come after ours? We may not exactly be high society, but we are pretty well known in Metropolis. It could happen. Do you really want to take that risk?"

She finally came to a stop, and Clark moved across the room to stand in front of her. He shook his head, knowing that he'd lost the battle before it had even started. "All right. We'll look into it when we get back tomorrow."

"Well," Martha broke in. "I think I'll head on up to join Jonathan. You two have a good night." She gave each a warm hug and a motherly kiss on the cheek before departing.

"Alone at last," Clark drawled, his eyebrows waggling suggestively.

Lois smiled softly. "Let's take a walk."

Clark's smile softened in return. He took her hand in his, their fingers intertwining naturally. They left the farmhouse hand in hand and strolled unhurried through the soft light of a not-quite-full moon. After a few minutes, they found themselves at the edge of the pond that had been the scene of Clark's near-fatal encounter with the militant psychopath known as Jason Trask.

As Clark slowed to a stop at the water's edge, he let out a slow sigh. "You weren't the first person I told I'm Superman," he said, his voice full of regret. "Trask stole that title. He was ready to kill my parents. I was desperate. The worst part was that he didn't even believe me. I couldn't prove it, either. My powers still hadn't come back from my exposure to the Kryptonite in the barn. When I told him, he pulled out his gun, and he took my very real fear as proof that I was lying. He left me chained up in that van… it was only a few minutes later that I heard Jimmy's supersonic watch going off. I busted out, rescued my parents and Wayne Irig from the fire Trask had set in the barn, and went after Trask. I caught him out here, but he had the Kryptonite. It knocked my powers out again, but I couldn't give up. I still don't know how I managed it, but somehow I got hold of the Kryptonite and threw it out there." He gestured towards the large bolder in the middle of the pond. "It exploded on impact. Trask was pretty ticked, ready to kill me, my parents, and everyone else he suspected of befriending the, uh, alien."

"Oh, Clark," Lois breathed, her arms coming up to encircle him in a fierce embrace that Clark returned with as much strength as he dared employ.

"It took every last reserve of strength I had to stop him," he said after pulling back a moment later. "It hurt like hell, but it felt kinda good to be able to take him out with ordinary human strength."

"He really could have killed you," Lois murmured, remembering her own horror as she saw Trask aiming his gun at Clark in her mind's eye.

Clark's eyes were deadly serious, his voice grave. "If you hadn't called out that warning… if Rachel hadn't taken that shot… Yeah, he could have killed me."

"Oh, Clark," she breathed again as she pulled him close once more. They clung together for a quiet moment; this time, Lois was the one to pull back. "I'm not exactly a stranger to brushes with death," she began, "but that whole 'life flashes before your eyes' thing you always hear about… I've never really had that happen. But that day… that moment when Trask pointed his gun at you… Every second of every moment we had shared since we met flashed through my mind, and I knew I wasn't ready to lose you."

Clark smiled gently. "The way you hugged me after… that was the first time I was really sure you'd come to care about me—about Clark, that is." He paused to chuckle softly. "Maybe we should be thanking Trask. He did bring us closer."

"Yeah, I guess he did," Lois agreed in a soft voice the held a hint of awe. "Your compassion is truly amazing, Clark. You deserve so much better than me… but I'm too selfish to ever let you go."

"Let go or hold on tight, Lois, I'll still be here." His hand came up to cup her cheek in that familiar gesture she had come to love so much. "You deserve the best, sweetheart, you really do. I wish I knew how to make you see that."

Lois smiled tremulously. "Just love me, Clark."

"I do," he told her as his lips closed over hers. His lips were warm against hers, and somehow both soft and firm. She opened her mouth to his questing tongue; her body trembled against his as he slowly explored every velvety crevice. Their passion burned slowly, smoldering between them and gradually intensifying with each caress of lips and tongues. Clothing fell away one reverently removed article at a time, and once they were both completely undressed Clark gently lowered Lois down onto the soft grass beneath them. He moved over her, his flesh lightly pressing into hers as he levitated just enough to keep his body weight off her. Their bodies joined together, soft moans and sighs mingling in the night air as two became one, in body, in mind, in heart and soul.

******

It was still early in Metropolis when Lois and Clark made their return. Their first stop was Lois's apartment, since she needed to gather up some fresh clothing and a few other personal sundries to take back to Clark's place. She still felt uncomfortable in the confines of the place she had called home for the past few years, thanks to the all-too-clear memories of feeling like some sort of caged animal in a zoo under constant observation. All of Luthor's voyeuristic equipment had been removed during their vacation, but his presence still managed to linger in every shadow. As she finished packing, she was again filled with gratitude for Clark, who had invited her to stay at his place the moment she mentioned her dread at the prospect of returning to her own violated apartment. It was with no small measure of relief that the couple vacated the premise.

Since Clark had invited Jack and Jimmy to stay on in his apartment while they were in Smallville, flying in through the balcony entrance was obviously not an option. And since the majority of the taxicabs were filled with morning rush-hour commuters, they decided to walk back to Clark's apartment. He carried Lois's garment bag on one arm, and the other was resting across her shoulders, his hand clasped between both of hers.

When they finally reached Clark's apartment, they were somewhat surprised to find it bustling with activity, considering the early hour. Jack and his younger brother Denny were in the living room gathering up the remains of what had likely been a significant mess, judging by the fullness of the garbage bag they were still loading up. They could hear the gruff voice of their editor wafting in from the kitchen in a hearty rendition of Elvis's "Don't be Cruel", and several loud thumps which were accompanied by louder yelps of pain indicated that Jimmy was most likely in the bedroom area.

Clark and Lois stood on the landing for a few minutes, silently observing the activity with more than a little amusement on their faces. Denny was the first to become aware of their presence, and when he did, he froze in place, his eyes widening with surprise—and a little panic, too.

"Uh… Hi, Mr. Kent, Ms. Lane," he greeted them shyly. Only then did Jack pause in his manic mission to gather up the last remaining pieces of garbage underneath the coffee table. He stood up straight and tall, a slightly defiant grin stretching his lips.

"Hey, guys." Jack stuffed his handful of waste into the garbage bag before crossing to the bottom of the steps. "You're back earlier than we expected."

Lois and Clark finally came down into the room. Clark extended a hand out to Jack and they exchanged one of those friendly, manly handshakes. "Glad to see you guys took such good care of the place while I was gone," he told Jack, his warm smile belying his dry tone of voice.

"Yeah, well, you know…" He had the good sense to look slightly embarrassed, and Clark took pity on him, patting his back in reassurance that he wasn't upset.

"Don't worry about it. I was your age not that long ago, you know. And there were definitely more than a couple of occasions that I found myself grounded to my room until it was clean."

Lois notched up a single perfectly sculpted brow. "Really? And there I thought you had been the perfect son."

Clark laughed. "Nobody's perfect, Lois."

"Don't I know it!" Her wry retort had both the younger boys laughing along with Clark.

"So, Denny," Clark said a moment later. "Shouldn't you be in school by now?"

"Nah, it's an in-service day, so my foster parents said I could hang out here with Jack—after Mr. White vouched for us, that is." Denny glanced over towards the kitchen, where Perry was still crooning away. "You guys have a really great boss."

"He's the best!" Jimmy's voice broke in from the doorway of Clark's bedroom. "Not only did he get me my old job back—well, once the Planet's back up and running, anyway—he even managed to get me a pay advance. I got hold of my old landlord, and since he hadn't leased out my apartment, he's letting me move back in this weekend."

"That's great, Jimmy!"

"Chow time, boys!" The voice of the great Perry White boomed into the room from the kitchen. The former and future editor of the Daily Planet appeared in the doorway bearing a large saucepan full of… something, something that certainly smelled better than it looked. "Lois, Clark! The wayward lovebirds have returned to the nest. Welcome back!"

Thanks, Perry," Clark replied, a bit of a blush warming his cheeks at his boss's teasing.

"Good morning, Chief," Lois greeted as she crossed over to him. She stretched up and kissed his cheek, cautious of the hot pan still in his hands.

"Well, come on. There's plenty for everyone. Or did you want me to eat it for you, too?" Several chuckles filled the room as the party migrated to the dining table. Lois and the younger men took a seat while Clark fetched two more place settings and Perry began serving.

"So, have you two set a date?" Jimmy asked between mouthfuls.

"No, not yet," Clark answered as he finally took his own seat.

"We still haven't even told my parents yet," Lois added in a dour voice.

At her grimace, Perry reached over and patted her back reassuringly. "Now, honey, I know you haven't always had the closest relationship with your mother—"

"Are you going for understatement of the year?" Lois grumbled.

"But I'm sure she'll be happy for you," Perry continued as though she hadn't interrupted.

Lois's frown deepened. "You, of all people, know what Mother is like."

Perry chuckled as he recalled his first meeting with the woman responsible for bringing the most intrepid reporter he'd ever known into the world. "It was the day after Lois nailed her first major undercover scoop. Ellen Lane came storming into the bull pen; even security couldn't slow her down. She burst into my office and lit into me for 'allowing her daughter to risk her life for some silly little story that no one would even read before they lined their birdcages with it.'"

"Never mind that the 'silly little story' exposed not only some of the worst examples of pork-barrel spending in the history of Metropolis, but also the mayor's propensity for using city funds to provide several councilmen with high-end call girls," Lois added derisively.

"Three councilmen resigned that day, and a recall movement against the mayor steam-rolled through town in just a few short weeks. It was some of the finest investigative reporting I've ever seen," Perry finished with pride.

"I don't think I want to know how you got that scoop," Clark muttered.

"I went undercover as one of the call girls," Lois replied with a slight smirk. Jack, who'd been silently observing the conversation with a great deal of amusement, gaped at her as he dropped his food-laden fork in his lap. His younger brother's cheeks filled in a deep crimson blush. Jimmy went bug-eyed and nearly choked on the large bite he'd just shoveled into his mouth. Lois laughed out loud at their reactions.

"You… you didn't…" Clark couldn't bring himself to ask the obvious question, but his meaning was clearly written in between the lines of shock on his face.

"No! Of course not. I came down with a convenient case of food poisoning. But not before snapping a few highly incriminating photographs," she finished, her smirk now quite broadly filling her features. She couldn't help but giggle at the relief that flooded Clark's face.

"That was definitely some brilliant reporting, darlin'." Perry's voice still held that tone of pride that was almost as fatherly as it was that of a satisfied boss. "I'll sure be glad to see more of that as soon as we get the Planet back up and running."

"Good. Because this brilliant reporter has a new story to investigate," Lois informed him.

Perry frowned in confusion. "Uh, Lois, honey, aren't you forgetting something? You don't exactly have a paper to print it in yet."

"You're forgetting that we haven't been under contract since the Planet blew up. And we haven't signed a new contract yet, either. I'm sure there are plenty of newspapers that would be more than happy to have a Lane and Kent byline gracing their pages."

Perry turned to Clark with a critical eye. "So you're with her on this, Kent?"

Clark's lips quirked up in a small, wry smile. "'Fraid so."

Perry sighed in light-hearted resignation. "All right. What's the story?"

"The Wedding Destroyer," Lois answered simply.

"You mean that nutcase who's been wrecking all those high-society weddings the last month?" Jimmy asked as he helped himself to another generous serving of Perry's strange but delicious breakfast dish.

"That's the one," Lois replied. "Actually, Jimmy, we were hoping you might be interested in helping us out with some research. We can't pay you much, but it'll at least keep you busy for a little while."

"You guys don't have to pay me," Jimmy said good-naturedly. "I'd be happy to help. It's just too bad we don't have access to the Planet's archives."

"Well, actually," Perry jumped back in, "I'm supposed to meet with the building inspectors this morning. They're supposed to be releasing the building as safe to occupy so the construction crews can finally get started. We got lucky, too. The archives weren't damaged a bit in that explosion."

"Great!" Lois jumped up from her seat and began pacing the small confines of the kitchen and dining area. "We need to find out what these people have in common—besides the obvious. It's got to be more than just the fact that they're all from well-off families. There has to be another connection. These attacks are personal. Someone out there thinks they have a score to settle. Clark, you and Jimmy should head over to the Planet with Perry. I'm going to go down and talk to Henderson, see what the police have so far."

"Sounds like a plan," Clark agreed. He rose and began clearing the table of the dirty dishes.

"Anything we can do to help?" Jack asked as he moved to help Clark with the clean-up.

"Why don't you come with us," Clark answered. "There are four weddings to research and four of us. We can each focus on one, pull everything we can find."

Lois left the clean-up work to the men and disappeared into the living room. By the time Clark caught up to her, she already had her jacket and purse and was on her way up the steps toward the front door.

"You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye, were you?" Clark asked with a soft smile.

Lois halted just before reaching the top step. With Clark still at the base of the steps, she found herself in the unusual position of looking down on him as their eyes connected. Her head tilted to one side as she suddenly felt off-kilter, a vague sense of vertigo spinning her head for a moment. As she gradually refilled her lungs with precious oxygen, she blinked a few times, and then shook her head to clear the strange fog that threatened to settle there.

"Sorry," she apologized sincerely, marveling inwardly at how easy that had come to be with Clark. "Of course not. I just got… focused on the story. I have a tendency to be rather one-track minded, in case you haven't noticed."

Clark's responding smile was lovingly indulgent. "Just one of the many things I love about you."

Lois could actually physically feel Clark's love radiating through her entire being, and quite literally went weak in the knees. She leaned into Clark, her hands clasping at his shoulders for support. His hands came up automatically and wrapped around her waist to pull her fully against his solid frame. Their foreheads came to rest together as Lois greedily drank in his presence, burning every last detail into memory. Finally, she lowered her mouth those last few centimeters to meet his. The circuit closed and the electrical charge jolting through them was as familiar as it was instant. Lois tore herself back after the scantest moments, lest she find herself unable to stop that kiss without reaching its ultimate completion.

She returned herself to a fully upright position with only the slightest difficulty. She couldn't help but smirk as she had to guide Clark back to solid ground before she could remove her hand from his shoulders.

"I love you," she told him simply, her eyes bright and deeply filled with myriad emotions. "I'll catch up with you as soon as I'm done with Henderson." She glanced over his shoulder toward the kitchen as the sounds of a large crash clattered throughout the apartment. "Try to keep the boys out of trouble, will you?" With a cheeky grin, she turned and took the last few steps to the door.

"You be careful, too," Clark called out as she opened the door.

"Always!" Her cheerful voice rang in his ears long after the door closed behind her. As another loud crash chased the last reverberations of Lois's voice out of his head, Clark turned back to the kitchen, closed his eyes, and groaned. He wondered briefly what the odds might be of him coming up with an excuse good enough to chase all three guests out of his kitchen long enough that he could super-clean their mess. He shook his head in defeat as a third crash rang out and trudged back to join the "cleaning" party.

******

It took Lois most of the morning to corner Henderson, and a fair amount of their typical caustic banter before he finally divulged any information on the status of the police's investigation of the Wedding Destroyer. As usual, he wouldn't give her much in the way of details, but he had shared, off the record, of course, the list of the five most likely suspects the official inquiry had identified. Armed with that and Henderson's completely off-the-record unofficial hunch, she met back with Clark and the gang back at his apartment.

It took most of the remaining afternoon to cross-check their information, but eventually they narrowed down the list of suspects to one likely candidate. Locating that suspect proved impossible, though. The woman had been checked out of a private mental institution by a doctor with dubious credentials and seemingly vanished from the face of the earth one month ago—two days before the first wedding was "destroyed".

The woman, a debutante named Myrtle Beach, had watched her own wedding destroyed in the middle of the reception, six months prior. She caught her newly-wedded groom actively betraying the vows he had spoken a few short hours before with, in classic cliché, the maid of honor, who had, of course, been Myrtle's closest friend since childhood. The distraught bride had a complete nervous breakdown and was immediately admitted into psychiatric care.

The weddings destroyed thus far were for two of Myrtle's bridesmaids, the best man, and the sister of the duplicitous maid of honor. The icing on the proverbial cake: the maid of honor and Myrtle's groom had the audacity to schedule their notorious nuptials for the upcoming weekend. By the time Lois and Clark had to start getting ready for their engagement with Ellen Lane, they had coordinated a wedding trap with Henderson and the police, a full detail of armed private security hired by both wealthy sides of the wedding party, and of course, one high-flying superhero.

As she dressed after a soothing shower that evening, Lois consciously drew on every reserve of professional confidence she had to fortify the ever-dwindling reserves of personal assurance she found rapidly fading the closer she came to the inevitable confrontation with her mother. She was incredibly grateful to Clark. His presence was constant, but he always seemed to know when to give her space as well as he knew when she just needed to be held close. From the steaming cup of chamomile tea waiting as she stepped out of the shower, to a casual reminder that they were actually ahead of schedule and had plenty of time to finish getting ready that somehow steadied her fumbling fingers as she put on a necklace, he seemed to know what she needed even before she knew she needed it.

Lois applied a few more light dabs of lip gloss before smiling in satisfaction at her reflection. She turned away and finally left the bedroom to present herself to Clark. He was standing in the middle of the living room; he'd just turned off the television as she stepped into the room. He turned around slowly and his eyes met hers for the briefest second before dropping to her feet. His gaze trailed up her cream satin covered figure with maddening slowness, the heat radiating from his eyes raking up through every one of her pores as his glance meandered up her torso and her neck, and then lingered on her full lips. She watched him suck in a sharp breath as she darted her tongue out to moisten lips that had suddenly felt dry under that intense heat. Finally, his eyes met hers once more, this time locking on tight, boring straight through her and into her soul.

He wasn't consciously aware of moving toward her, but there was suddenly almost no space between them at all. Every breath mingled together, their heartbeats pounding so loudly in his ears they nearly drowned out all other sounds. "You are so beautiful," he whispered. Her smile melted into one of the slowest, sweetest, and most sensual kisses either had experienced yet.

"Do we really have to go to my mother's tonight?" Lois asked, her soft voice small and pitiful, her lips pursed in an impish pout.

Clark kissed her once more, a firm and reassuring caress. "Do you really want to put it off? Have this keep hanging over your head?"

"And driving me bonkers?" Her eyebrows arched up in challenge.

"I didn't say that," he defended himself with a soothing voice that immediately mollified her.

"You're right." She pulled in a steadying lungful of air. "Let's just go get this over with. Rip the band-aid off, as your mom would say."

Clark chuckled as he held her light spring jacket out for her. He touched a light kiss to her cheek as she slid her arms into the sleeves, and turned her back to face him as he pulled it up her shoulders. "If it gets too bad, we could just tell her we have a video we forgot to return."

Lois burst out laughing as she imagined delivering Clark's most classic and feeblest excuse to her mother before executing a super-fast disappearing act. "Or we forgot to pick up our cheese-of-the-month shipment," she returned with a snarky smile.

They left Clark's apartment in full banter mode, and the verbal sparring match carried them all the way to the front door of Ellen Lane's current abode. Lois lifted her hand to ring the bell and froze.

"Honey?" Clark's hand tightened around her waist.

"I'm okay," she replied quickly. "I just need a second…" She trailed off, her hand still suspended in mid-air a few inches from the doorbell.

"I'll be right here," he told her, his mouth close to her ear. His warm breath wafted across that sensitive skin, sending slight tingles racing across the nerve endings.

She took a deep breath, filling herself with his reassuring presence. She closed her eyes and jabbed out at the doorbell.

Ellen Lane must have been waiting right behind the door, for it opened before the chime had even finished ringing. "Right on time, for a change."

"Hello to you, too, Mother." The only way she could keep the bitterness out of her voice was to fall back on her crispest professional tone.

"Good evening, Lois, Mr. Kent. We haven't been formally introduced, yet—even though you whisked my daughter out of state after one of the most traumatic events of her life. Nevertheless, allow me to introduce myself. Ellen Lane." She held her hand out to him palm down.

Clark took her hand in a confident, but not quite crushing, grip. "It's an honor to meet you, Mrs. Lane."

The elder Lane's expression shifted, cooling and stiffening. "Ellen. I haven't been 'Mrs. Lane' for a very long time."

"Ellen. It's a pleasure to officially meet you." Clark's smile was one of those warm, sincere beams that had never failed to soften even the hardest interview subjects he turned it on. "I'm looking forward to getting to know the mother responsible for creating this incredible woman I'm lucky enough to call my partner."

It worked like a charm on Ellen Lane. She blinked a few times before suddenly grinning like a school girl. The dramatic quality of her mood change had Lois fearing her mother wasn't entirely sober. She shook her head as she trailed behind her mother when the older woman dragged Clark by the arm inside the house.

She led them to her sitting room and gestured for them to take a seat while she prepared drinks. As Clark tried, and failed, to find a comfortable position on Ellen's vintage Victorian divan, he mused that the mystery of where Lois got her taste in furniture had now been solved.

"Now," the elder Lane began as she passed Lois and Clark glasses of icy cocktails, "perhaps you can explain to me just why you felt you couldn't trust your own mother with the knowledge that you had no intention of actually getting married at the wedding we so carefully planned. That wedding was nothing more than an elaborate theatrical production!"

Lois mentally counted to ten before even considering an appropriate verbal response. Several choice words flashed through her mind, so she lifted her glass for a drink to stall just the slightest bit longer. She almost choked, though, as the bitter burn of alcohol registered with her senses. She set her glass down on the low end table to her right with firmness just shy of a full slam.

"Mother." Her voice was low, cold, and drenching with bitter disappointment.

Ellen Lane lifted her own glass and took a long drink. "It's your fault." She took her seat in the settee across from them, crossed her legs, and swallowed another hearty pull from her glass. Her eyes flashed defiance at her daughter.

"My fault?" Lois seethed. Her brows arched up sharply over widly gaping eyes.

"Your fault," Ellen snapped. "You didn't trust me and you deliberately deceived me. I thought I had paid my penance in those departments with your father, but apparently they're inherited traits!"

"I can't believe you're comparing *me* to *him* like that!" Lois might have jumped up and fled right then were it not for Clark's strong hand at her shoulder. At just that simple touch from him, she immediately felt calmer. Still incensed, but still in control.

"You lied to me! Just like he always did!" Her mother's hands were trembling as she lifted her glass once more, draining the remaining contents.

"It wasn't the same, Mother." Lois consciously softened her voice. She suddenly realized that this conversation had the potential to be a real turning point in her relationship with her mother, for better or for worse. And now, with Clark here by her side, she dared hope for the best instead of expecting the worst. "He lied to cover up his own shameful behavior. I had much higher purpose here. I'm sure you know by now just what kind of man Lex Luthor was and why I had to bring him down."

Ellen's expression slowly shifted, that defiance evaporating and sorrowful revulsion filling in. "He really was a monster, wasn't he? The stories I've heard, read… He was a horrible man. But I don't understand why *you* had to be the one to bring him down. Or why you had to do it that way."

Lois sighed, her expression filled with self-disdain. "I explained this to Clark so many times that you'd think I'd have it scripted by now." She took a slow breath, schooling her expression into one of complete sincerity. "Lex Luthor had been courting me for a year, although grooming might be a more apt description. He was charming, intelligent, and, of course, sinfully rich. He'd perfected his façade and had the entire world eating out of his hands. But one person was never convinced, even for a moment that Lex was not who he appeared to be. It wasn't me, though. It was Clark. And I didn't listen to him." Lois paused sending another of countless silent apologies to Clark for this particular transgression.

Clark squeezed her shoulder, and then slid his hand gently down her arm to clasp her hand in his warm, strong grip. He smiled softly, apology accepted. She smiled back, full of love and gratitude.

"And then Lex proposed. I was seriously considering the possibility… and that's when Clark laid it all on the line. He told me that he's been in love with me for a long time… and I finally realized that I had been falling in love with him all along. But it wasn't until then that I was finally ready to listen to what he had to say about Lex Luthor. After he told me everything he knew, I was… livid. And mortified. He had completely fooled me. He destroyed my life. And he tried to make me totally dependent on him. He wanted to break my spirit, and he would probably have succeeded if Clark hadn't made me open my eyes and see him for who he really was."

She paused in her story-telling, giving her mother some time to digest this information. Ellen leaned back in her seat, her expression pensive. "Well, I can certainly see why that would make you want to go after him… But why did you have to do it that way? Why the wedding, Lois? Why make me waste all that time and energy and emotion for nothing?" As she finished, her voice had turned whiny and pleading.

"It wasn't for nothing, Mother. The truth is I needed your help. I couldn't have pulled it off without you." Lois paused and reached out across the table. She waited with baited breath until her mother finally moved to return the gesture, shakily folding Lois's fingers under her own. "All that planning—you got to throw your daughter the big elegant church wedding of your dreams. And even though I'd never really had that particular dream, I managed to find away to give you what you wanted in a way that helped me take down one of the worst criminals in history. Isn't there some part of you that can appreciate that for what it is?"

"You always had to be different, didn't you?" Ellen smiled gently and gave her daughter's hand a firm squeeze. "And I suppose it doesn't help matters that you inherited my vindictive streak. It must've been pretty satisfying to stand at that altar and tell him you'd been fooling him all along." Ellen's smile had grown into a derisive smirk.

"Even better was when I told him that I'm really in love with Clark," Lois replied, giving her beloved an indulgent smile.

Ellen turned to look at Clark with a critical eye. "So that's why he lunged at you. I'd wondered."

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you, Mother." Lois offered her apology with more sincerity than she'd ever felt with the woman who raised her. "The risks were just too great."

Ellen sighed in resignation. "You really don't want a big wedding?"

Lois smiled gently. "Not really. The truth is… whenever I've imagined that special moment… when I'd commit myself to the great love of my life, I always pictured something small, quiet; just an intimate gathering of the people dearest to me and the man I love."

"Well," Ellen huffed lightly, "you always did have a fierce romantic streak in you. Even if you did keep it well-hidden."

Lois blushed as she glanced over at Clark. He just gave another of those lazy, indulgent smiles of his as he brought their joined hands up to his mouth. He softly kissed the heel of her hand before letting their hands drop back down to rest across his thigh.

"So when is your big day?" The smile that Ellen turned on Lois was all-knowing with a presumptuous inflection that drove Lois all the more crazy for its accuracy.

"How did you know?" Lois asked, incredulous.

Her mother looked pointedly at her left hand. Lois lifted it up out of Clark's grasp and extended it toward her mother. The engagement ring sparkled, proudly announcing to her mother and the world the status of her commitment to the man by her side.

Ellen stared at the ring critically for a moment before raising her gaze to meet with that of her future son-in-law. Very slowly, the corners of her lips turned up into an accepting smile. "Well chosen, Clark. Welcome to the family."

Clark smiled warmly back. "Thank you, Ellen."

Her gaze shifted back to her daughter, and the corners of her eyes crinkled as her eyes twinkled with mirth. "You've obviously been a good influence on my daughter."

Once again, Lois's eyes bulged with indignant shock. "What's that supposed to mean, Mother?"

"You just apologized to me. You haven't given me a sincere apology since you were eight years old. And I know, from all the many things you've told me about this partner of yours over the last year, that Clark has had a great deal to do with the changes I've seen in you. He's good for you, Lois. He's good for us. Why, we've talked more in the last twelve months than we had in all the years since you graduated high school combined. It didn't happen overnight, but it happened. Here we are. I haven't felt this close to you in so long." Ellen's voice was thickening with emotion, and she barely choked out those last words. Tears were welling up in her eyes that somehow held right on the brink of cascading down her cheeks.

Lois had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. First she'd had to calm her mother's drunken ire. Now it appeared to be time to soothe her away from a maudlin stupor. "I now I'm not always the… easiest person to get along with… but I do *want* to get along with you."

Ellen dabbed the corners of her eyes with a napkin just as those alligator tears spilled over. "Lord knows *I'm* not the easiest person to get along with!" She took a slow steady breath before continuing. "But I can try to be a little less difficult if you can."

"It's a deal," Lois replied, giving her mother's hand one last firm squeeze.

Ellen drew her arm back to her lap. "You never answered my question." When's the big day?"

"We haven't set a date," Lois answered, "but we were thinking we'd get married in a couple of months."

Ellen frowned. "Oh, no, that won't work."

"Why not?"

"I'll be out of the country, that's why not! Don't tell me you forgot!" Ellen's frown deepened. "I've been planning this trip for months. It's far too late to reschedule."

Lois's face fell as her eyes slipped closed. "Mother's European tour. I completely forgot."

"When do you leave?" Clark's inquiry redirected Ellen's attention moments before she could verbally castigate Lois for her memory lapse.

"In fifteen days," Ellen answered. "I'll be gone for six months."

Lois finally opened her eyes and looked straight at Clark. "I guess we have two weeks to put this small wedding together, then."

"You can't get married in two weeks!" Ellen exclaimed. Her expression was truly flabbergasted.

"Why not?" Her words may have been directed at her mother, but her gaze was still locked with Clark's. His response was immediate, a grin spreading across his entire face as his eyes lit up in that million megawatt beam that was guaranteed to light the darkest shadows, be they in the room or the heart.

"Because… because it just… it wouldn't… be…" Her words trailed off as she realized that neither member of the couple was paying her the slightest bit of attention. They just stared, grinning almost ridiculously at each other as their heads inched closer and closer. Ellen almost blushed as she watched them finally connect in a slow, tender kiss. They moved apart just before she started feeling markedly uncomfortable.

"Two weeks it is," Lois said, turning to look back at her mother. Her eyes flashed with proud confidence and determination.

For once, Ellen decided to admit defeat graciously. "How can I help?"

******


	10. Chapter 10

~~*S*~~

Chapter Ten

~~*S*~~

Clark found himself completely wrapped up in Lois's arms the moment her mother's front door closed. He reacted reflexively; his arms rose up to circle her slight frame and pull her in snug against his larger solid form. One hand slid up to cup the back of her head, his fingers mussing the silky strands. He pressed his lips against the soft skin of her forehead, deeply breathing in her scent, which was an intoxicating mixture of something floral, something sweet, and something pure Lois.

"I thought that went rather well," he told her softly as she continued to cling to him wordlessly. He dropped another kiss on the top of her head as his hand tenderly massaged her scalp. "I think she likes me," he added in a conspiratorial whisper.

Lois finally lifted her head from Clark's shoulder and met his eyes. Hers were glowing, lit up with such loving adoration that it stole Clark's breath away. "Are you kidding? I think she likes you more than she likes me! She's crazy about you! I've never seen anyone so completely win her over—and in one meeting! I'm telling you, that is a record."

"Must be my country charm," Clark grinned. "Is that a city girl thing, or just a family trait, do you think?"

The light in her eyes dimmed, and for a moment, Clark regretted his teasing comment. Her smile remained, though softened, reassuring him. "It's nice to think I inherited something positive from that side of the gene pool." She paused to sigh, releasing the last vestiges of maternal-related tension. "Tonight could have been such a disaster, but somehow, you made it work."

"We made it work," Clark corrected gently. "You handled it all rather remarkably, you know."

"But it couldn't have happened without you." One of her hands slipped up between them to lightly clasp his cheek. "She was right about one thing. You are very, very good for me. There is no doubt that I am a better person for knowing you." Lois stretched up and closed the slight distance between them with a tender kiss. As she pulled back, the corners of her eyes crinkled just the slightest bit, a question forming in here eyes—one tinged in doubt. "Am I good for you?"

"Lois!' Clark gasped as his eyes widened in surprise. "Don't you know?" His question was soft and low. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me!" He lowered his mouth to capture hers in a kiss so strong, so intense it left no doubts whatsoever as to its meaning and intent. After several deliciously long moments, he pulled away. When her trembling registered in his overwhelmed senses, he tightened his hold on her just a fraction shy of crushing her.

He drank in her passion clouded eyes for just a moment longer before blinking a few times, trying to break the spell that had enveloped them, if only just a little. "Why don't we go home where we can finish this discussion properly?"

Lois couldn't seem to find her voice; after a couple of failed attempts at speech, she gave up and simply nodded her assent. They pulled apart just far enough to walk away from her mother's home and hurry down the road to the nearest corner shadowed and private enough for an aerial departure.

In the blink of an eye, Clark was setting Lois back on her feet on his balcony. He released her long enough only to shift back into civilian clothing before guiding her into the living room. They sat on his couch and Clark pulled her legs across his lap. As he wrapped his arms around her and drew her in closer, his gaze bored into hers with intensity unmatched by even his most powerful laser vision. Then he picked up right where he'd left off on her mother's doorstep—with a searing kiss.

When he finally broke away, he'd left her gasping for air. His hands had found their way up to frame her face in a gentle but immovable embrace. "I feel like I came alive the day I met you, and I haven't been the same since."

She tried to smile, she really did, but it came out filled with such wistful longing it made his heart ache. "You are a wonderful person, Clark. Everything about you… you are a living example of all of humanity's greatest potential. There's no question, you are a better person than I am. And I can accept that. It's just…" She paused to suck in a shuddering breath, but before Clark could form a word, she pressed on. "It's just that… I've always believed that the only kind of relationship that really works, the only kind I could ever see myself happy in, is one between equal partners. And I don't know how to deal with this imbalance."

Clark loosened his hold, smoothing one hand through her hair and dropping the other to curve behind her neck. He kissed her again, a soft, lingering caress that easily stole her breath. "I'm far from perfect, Lois. I have my faults, same as anyone else, and you know that better than anyone." He paused to press another tender kiss to her slightly parted lips before speaking again. "And it was you who set the bar for Superman's standards, his morals, his ethics. You understood long before I did what Superman meant to the world, and if you hadn't helped me see that when you did, Superman might very well have disappeared as quickly as he'd arrived within days of his debut. The truth is… Superman is as much your creation as he is mine. You have saved me so many times, Lois: my life, my heart, my spirit, sometimes even my sanity."

Her wide eyes were filled with doubt and disbelief when he stopped speaking, but as she stared at him for several long, silent seconds, the doubt gradually melted into awe, the disbelief into wonder. The corners of her lips turned up slowly as Clark brought their mouths together once more. The hand behind her neck trailed back around to glide across her collarbone; he let his fingers drift lightly across the hint of the valley of her cleavage, then back across the other side of her collarbone. All the while, he held her head against him, his hands tangled through her hair at the back of her scalp. His explorative caresses and strokes were languid, unhurried, as if they had all the time in the universe, or perhaps they had stopped time altogether.

"You are my equal in every way that matters, Lois," he told her when they moved apart countless moments later. "And in some ways, you're the better one, and that is exactly what has kept us balanced, even with consideration for my, uh, super powered advantages. That's one of the best parts of our relationship. We each have our own advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses, but they all compliment each other. We're good together in every possible way."

"Oh, Clark," Lois breathed out on a sigh. "I hope you never stop knowing exactly the right thing to say." She reached up and lightly trailed her fingers across his cheek and along the line of his jaw. The tip of one finger beneath his chin urged him towards her. He leaned forward to close the distance between them until their mouths merged together. A small sigh slipped past her lips to be immediately swallowed by Clark's leisurely caresses. She slid her hand around his neck, up through his hair to thoroughly ruffle his soft locks. In answer, he brought his hands up to clasp her neck just below her jaw. One hand continued to trail up to stroke her cheek as the other pulled her ever closer into him. Lips and tongues slowly began their familiar dance; their passion slowly simmered hotter, like glowing embers smoldering until the kindling erupted into flames.

Until Clark abruptly tore himself away from Lois, his eyes wide and distant. After a long, tense moment, his attention returned to the woman in his arms, who was waiting patiently for an explanation. He was briefly flooded with gratitude that he no longer had to come up with lame excuses for his need to disappear super-fast. "Tornadoes. Lots of them up and down the Midwest. There's a huge cell headed towards Smallville."

"Go!" Her reply was instant, and again, Clark was filled with gratitude for having this incredible woman in his life. He dropped one last tender kiss on her full lips before whisking into uniform and into the air on his way to save the day once again.

~~*S*~~

For the next week, Clark's reassuring words replayed in Lois's mind in an endless loop. Superman considered her, Lois Lane, to be his equal! For the last year, she, along with the rest of the world, had thought Superman to be far above the very ordinary human beings he so graciously protected. To learn that she, one of those very ordinary humans, had helped shape all that Superman represented to the world was both humbling and empowering.

The trouble was, she still couldn't quite reconcile that notion with the fact of her complete and utter lack of remorse over Lex Luthor's demise. The two concepts seemed mutually exclusive; how it could be possible for her to feel that way, yet still be an equal counterpart to the legendary superhero continued to elude her.

With all that weighing so heavily on her mind, it was a wonder she managed to accomplish anything that week, either for their investigation of the Wedding Destroyer, or the planning of their own fast pending nuptials. By the time the day of the wedding trap rolled around, she felt like she had been running ninety miles a minute all week. There would be no rest for the weary, though, as they coordinated the final details of security for the ceremony.

As the ceremony was finally set to begin, Lois took her place inside the sanctuary with the rest of the guests; Superman would be hovering nearby, waiting just out of sight for Myrtle Beach's anticipated appearance. The trap was set, and the bait made her way down the aisle.

The ceremony got underway without incident; no one voiced any objections to the union and everyone held their peace. The bride and groom spoke their traditional vows, promising to love, honor, and cherish until death do part. The bride placed a simple gold band on her groom, and he in turn slid a delicate gold band on her finger.

And that's when the bride screamed out in agony as visible sparks of electricity ripped through her body. She crumpled toward the floor, her groom scarcely catching her before she hit the ground.

"Out of my way, or the bride dies!" The hostile voice came from the back of the church, and all the guests turned to see the former best friend of the bride making her way down the aisle, a small black device clutched in her hand. "I just wanted one good look at the woman who destroyed my life… as she realizes that I am going to destroy hers."

"You can do that, Ms. Beach. You have that power." The voice of Superman filled the church, resonating through every guest in the pews. He strode down the aisle with purpose, stopping just a few feet short of the madwoman. "But look where you are. You remember what all this felt like, don't you? The hope you held in your heart, the life you dreamed of right in front of you."

"The dream she destroyed!" Myrtle cried out in anguish. "The hope they both shattered into millions of tiny fragments. They don't deserve to be happy!"

"But you do," Superman countered. "If you do this, if you end her life, you will never truly be happy. You will forever carry the guilt and responsibility in your heart. It will weigh you down, slowly eating away at you from the inside, casting a shadow of darkness over every moment of your life until all that remains is a bitter, miserable soul trapped in an empty, worthless existence. That's not how you want to live out the rest of your days. You don't want to do this anymore, Myrtle." Her eyes wavered as the hand holding the trigger device began to tremble. "It's time to let go." Superman took a cautious step toward her; as her trembling hand began to slowly drop down, he took another step, stretching his hand out to her. "Just let it go, Myrtle. We'll get you the help you need to move on with your life." He took one last step and wrapped his hand around hers to gently ease the device from her grip.

Tears began streaming down Myrtle's face. "It's just not fair," she sobbed plaintively. "It was supposed to be me. He should have been living happily ever after with me, not her."

Superman passed the device into the hands of a nearby security guard, then draped his arm across Myrtle's slumped shoulders and gently ushered her out of the church. Unnoticed by the shocked wedding guests, Lois quietly slipped out a side door. As she came round to the front of the church, she saw Myrtle Beach being placed in the back of a patrol car. Superman stood nearby, conversing with Inspector Henderson as Lois approached.

"Looks like your plan worked, Lane," Henderson acknowledged with only a hint of begrudging in his tone. "Keep this up, and I might have to consider you a friend of the police force."

"The force befriending the press? Like that'll ever happen," Lois returned good-naturedly. "Superman, would you care to give me a comment for my story?"

As Superman turned to her, his eyes twinkled with a knowing smile as she gave him a conspiratorial grin in return. "What happened to Myrtle Beach is a prime example of the consequences of betrayal," he began with due seriousness. "Trust can sometimes be the most fragile of human emotions. Hard won, yet easily destroyed. Once a person has lost their sense of trust, they are never the same. One single act of betrayal will forever alter the life of its victim. I truly hope people will take the lesson of this story to heart."

"Nicely put, Superman," Henderson said gruffly. "If you'll excuse me, I have a ton of paperwork to deal with."

"Very well spoken," Lois praised. "You always were better at the mushy-feely stuff than me," she added in a low voice. He smirked—Superman smirked!—at her in response, one perfect eyebrow arching up.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, there's someplace I need to be now." With a quick, sly wink at her, Superman lifted up into the air, streaking out of sight with that customary sonic boom. Scant moments later, Clark Kent emerged from the side of the church building, one hand nudging his glasses up and the other adjusting his tie.

"Did I miss anything interesting?" Clark queried, his voice slightly louder than necessary for the benefit of the lingering officers and security personnel still loitering in front of the church.

"Not much," Lois replied sardonically. "Wedding Destroyed tried to kill the bride, Superman talked her down and saved the day."

"Just another typical day in the life, then, huh?" He was smirking again, but this time it didn't look nearly as out of place as it had when he'd been in the Suit.

Lois rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly. "Something like that." The church doors flew open then, and wedding guests began pouring out onto the lawn. "I don't know about you, but I've had enough of other people's weddings. Why don't we get out of here and get back to working on our own?"

"Best idea you've had all day," Clark replied.

"Really? Better than my idea this morning, with the hot fudge and—"

"Okay, okay," Clark cut her off. "Second best idea you've had all day." That earned him a million-megawatt smile from Lois—which in turn earned her a slow, lingering kiss before they walked back to Lois's jeep.

~~*S*~~

At the end of a week of manic wedding planning, Lois and Clark had just returned home from their rehearsal dinner and were just settling in for some much needed quality time snuggling together through a movie when a rather loud and nearly frantic pounding at the front door thoroughly startled them. Clark heaved a sigh of resignation as he reluctantly extracted himself from Lois's embrace. He jogged up the steps as the knocking continued, growing louder and faster until Clark finally opened the door.

There on his doorstep stood a dapper, elderly gentleman who looked like he could have just stepped out of a Charles Dickens novel. "Can I help you?" Clark asked politely.

"I hope you'll forgive the intrusion, but actually, I've come here to help you." The man removed his bowler hat, one hand smoothing over his hair. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Herbert George Wells."

"As in HG Wells?" The dubious question came from Lois, who had joined Clark at the door.

"You've heard of me, then?" Mr. Wells smiled proudly.

"Well, yeah, of course," Lois replied caustically. "But… you're dead!"

"Yes, and no. I've come here by way of my time travel machine."

"Right." Her voice was dripping with skepticism.

"And why exactly are you here?" Clark asked, only slightly less skeptical than Lois.

"As I said, I'm here to help you." He paused, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. "You see, I'm afraid that the two of you cannot get married."

"Excuse me?" Her voice was now filled with indignation.

"What do you mean, we can't get married?" Clark's voice too held a note of resentment.

"Many lifetimes ago, your souls were cursed," Wells began.

"Cursed. Of course." Lois found her indignation quickly gave way to resignation. "We should have seen that coming, I guess." Clark sighed, his resignation matching that of his bride-to-be as he ushered the elder man inside and closed the door behind them.

"A curse was cast upon your love centuries ago by a wicked, vindictive soul bound and determined to destroy your love. Forever. If the two of you marry tomorrow," Wells continued, "it is certain that one of you will perish."

Resignation became frustration. "So, what? We're just supposed to spend the rest of our lives living in sin?"

Wells shook his head. "There is another alternative. In my travels through time, I acquired this device from the distant future." He produced a small black box that looked kind of like one of those portable video game players Jimmy had been raving about lately. "It's basically a soul tracker, if you will, and with it, I learned something quite remarkable. It seems that your souls are irrevocably intertwined. True soul mates. Wherever his was, there was yours, never one without the other. Two lovers destined to meet and fall in love over and over throughout time. Truly a mythical bond," he concluded with a heartfelt sigh. "Anyway, I've found the lifetime in which the curse was placed. This device can also transport us back into that past life, whereupon you can prevent the curse from being cast."

Lois sighed. "Curses. Past lives. Time travel. We're never going to have any sort of normal life, are we?"

"Just another day in the life." Clark shook his head in weary resignation. "Although, the soul mates part doesn't sound so bad," he added, earning a very small smile from the love of his life.

"I'm afraid we haven't time to waste. Shall we?" When Lois and Clark reluctantly nodded their assent, Wells began to manipulate the controls of the little device. The world around them faded in a surreal shimmer, and then there was a bright, blinding flash. As it faded away, they found themselves standing in the midst of a small clearing in a forest.

"Where are we?" Clark asked he scanned their surroundings in confusion.

"And what are we wearing?" The incredulous tone of her voice matched Lois's expression as she took in their strange attire.

"Early sixteenth century," Wells answered. Then his eyes suddenly grew wide as he shouted, "Duck!"

An arrow was flying straight towards Clark, who reached out reflexively to deflect the projectile. Only then did he realize with dismay that he was powerless, too slow to stop the arrow which grazed his arm before embedding itself in a tree.

"Ouch! That hurt!" There was as much surprise in his voice as there was pain.

"Clark, you're bleeding!" Lois reached out and dabbed at the wound with the sleeve of her dress.

"I'm so sorry, Clark," Wells apologized. "I should have warned you that you wouldn't have your powers in this incarnation."

"Kind of an important thing to know, don't you think?" Clark reproached him. Before Wells could reply, a group of soldiers seemingly materialized out of thin air, surrounding them.

"It's the Fox," one soldier exclaimed with excitement. "We've got the Fox!" The other soldiers cheered enthusiastically. Clark found himself seized by two soldiers at either side as an ornate carriage rolled into the small clearing.

As it came to a stop, the door opened and a familiar figure stepped out. "Well, well, well. What have we here? Might we have finally captured the elusive outlaw known as the Fox?"

"Luthor?" Clark's expression grew dark, his eyes growing harder than steel.

"That's Baron Luthoros to you," one of the soldiers at Clark's side admonished as the other sharply jabbed Clark's ribs with his elbow.

"Baron… Luthoros?" Clark echoed with a growing sense of dread.

"Don't you remember?" Luthoros asked with disdain. "I'm the bad guy who collects horrendously unfair taxes, and you're the good guy who robs me blind and gives it all back to the poor. Ring any bells?"

"Oh, this is just perfect," Lois drawled with dripping sarcasm.

"Lady Loisette!" Luthoros's voice held that same note of the suave debonair that he'd had, or rather, would have, as Lex Luthor. "Thank heavens I found you! I've been beside myself ever since the Fox absconded with you. Come, my darling, our wedding awaits!"

"Wedding? I don't think so!" Lois retorted defiantly. "I already dumped you at the altar once. You won't get me back there again!"

"What in the world are you talking about?" Luthoros's brow crinkled, perplexed as he was by her statement. He shook it off quickly, though. "Never mind, I'm anxious to get on with it. Behead the Fox!"

"No!" Lois cried out as she struggled toward Clark against the firm grip of Luthoros holding her back. Suddenly the small clearing grew ever more crowded as a large contingent of peasants flooded out of the forest to surround the soldiers.

One particularly familiar figure emerged through the crowd garbed in the robes of a monk. "Great shades of Caesar! The ambush worked perfectly! Three cheers for the Fox!" The peasants erupted in a chorus of hurrahs.

"Perry?" Lois asked with wide eyes.

"Harry, honey," the monk corrected. "Friar Harry. You get conked in the head or something?"

"Or something," she answered in chagrin.

"What say we take the Baron's gold and run him through?" Friar Harry had crossed to stand before Baron Luthoros brandishing a dagger at his throat.

"Wait, no." Clark shook off the soldiers and walked over to the monk. He reached out and pulled Friar Harry's dagger-wielding hand away from the petrified Baron's throat. "We're no better than him if we stoop to his ways. Let's just… make him walk home in defeat. Without Lady Loisette," he added, wrapping his arm around Lois as he pulled her free of the Baron's grasp.

"That's brilliant!" Friar Harry praised. "Humiliate the man! I love it!"

"You should get used to it—being humiliated," Lois couldn't resist chiming in. "You'll be experiencing that quite a lot."

"This is far from over, Fox" Luthoros growled. "Mark my words. I will make you pay for this." The peasants began shepherding the Baron and his soldiers away, leaving Lois, Clark, and Wells alone with the Friar.

"I guess we shouldn't be surprised that Lex Luthor's soul is responsible for the curse," Lois mused darkly. "Even his death hasn't stopped him from trying to tear us apart."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Friar Harry told them, "but we should really get you back to our secret stronghold in the forest before the Baron and his soldiers make their way back. If Luthoros discovers your secret identity as his prized knight Sir Charles, he'll have you beheaded."

"Really? Secret identity? Oh, brother," Lois sighed and rolled her eyes. The trio followed Friar Harry into the depths of the forest.

They walked for quite a while as the trees grew thicker, darkening the woods around them. Clark wrapped her arm in his, drawing her closer to him when she began to softly speak. "Clark, do you think maybe this is some sort of… karmic payback for what we did to Lex?"

His head tilted to one side as he looked at her from the corners of his eyes. "Maybe what happened to Luthor was his karmic payback for what he's done to us. So really, when you get right down to it, he only has himself to blame for his demise."

"Yeah," Lois breathed. "You make a really good point." She shook her head with a wry little smile. "Wow. You've certainly changed your tune on the matter."

"Well, I've given it a lot of thought since our talk back in Smallville, and I think maybe you're right. Luthor got exactly what he deserved. And in taking his own life, he not only saved everyone the time, trouble, and expense of a nasty legal trial, but he also prevented any single person from having to bear the burden of responsibility for his death."

"The only person responsible for Lex Luthor's fate is Lex Luthor himself," Lois reiterated. She released a sigh of relief as she rested her head against Clark's arm as they continued walking. "So, does this mean we can both stop raking ourselves across the coals over this?"

"You mean can I stop obsessing, let it go, and move on with our lives?" Clark returned lightly. "Yeah. I think so."

"Good," Lois replied. "Because once we reverse this stupid curse and get back home, I don't want to waste even another second thinking about Lex Luthor. All I want to think about is our wedding… and our honeymoon… and the beginning of our life together."

"That sounds absolutely… perfect." He stopped walking and pulled Lois in for a slow kiss that might never have ended had Friar Harry and HG Wells not both cleared their throats in a pointed reminder of their presence. The lovers parted reluctantly, resuming their trek through the darkened forest. A few moments later, they saw a soft glow begin to filter through the dense foliage ahead. As they pressed forward through the vegetation, several small thatched huts came into view around them in the warm light of numerous flaming torches.

They quickly drew the attention of the many peasants spread throughout this little village in the woods who called out their welcoming greetings to the new arrivals. When two peasants with very familiar faces began to make their way towards Lois and Clark, they both drew in sharp gasps of surprise.

"Mom? Dad?" Clark asked, incredulous.

The peasants exchanged confused glances as they came to a halt in front of Lois and Clark. "M'lord?" the woman began in a startled voice. "It's Marta," she corrected gently.

"And Jon," the man added.

"You know we love you like a son, but you've never addressed us so…"

"Familiar," Jon finished when Marta trailed off. "Are you sure you're… well…"

"Well in the head?" Marta picked up when Jon faltered.

"He's all right," Friar Harry answered. "Just had a close brush with the Baron, nearly lost Lady Loisette again. You know how that can frazzle the poor boy's mind."

"Oh, Lady Loisette!" Marta exclaimed as she rushed to embrace Lois. "We were beginning to fear our lord would never free you from the evil Baron's clutches!"

"Well," Lois began, returning Marta's embrace only slightly awkwardly, "I never lost faith in Cl- uh, Sir Charles."

"Tis truly a mythical bond you share to endure the hardship of his three previously foiled attempts to rescue you," Jon stated as he heartily clapped Clark's shoulder.

"Well, I couldn't give up," Clark replied, his eyes never leaving Lois.

"No, of course not," Marta returned. "I do believe the sun would have to stop shining before that ever happened."

"Now, son," Jon started leading Clark away from Lois. "I know the two of you must be eager to renew your… acquaintance, but I'm afraid we need a bit more time to finish the preparations for your final escape from the Baron's holdings. Sir Charles had best return to the Baron's camp lest he grow suspicious." Jon nodded to a young peasant boy who produced a pile of clothing that he thrust into Clark's arms.

Clark took the strange garbs in hand with a small shake of his head. "Dual personas do seem to be as much a part of your destiny as the love you share," Wells told Clark as he moved off to find some privacy in which to change.

~~*S*~~

Clark was adjusting a rather snug-fitting pair of black trousers as Lois came round the clump of bushes he'd ducked behind for his costume change. She stopped dead in her tracks, her jaw falling open ever so slightly as she gaped wide-eyed at her betrothed.

"What?" Clark asked, glancing down somewhat abashedly at his bare chest and tightly clad legs. "It's the pants, isn't it? They're too tight."

"No!" Lois exclaimed, perhaps a little too quickly. "No, they're, uh… perfect." She strolled over to Clark and raised one hand to lightly trail her fingers across his pectorals, making them flex beneath her soft touch. "I just never cease to be amazed at how… well-defined you are," she murmured appreciatively, her smoldering gaze slowly meeting back up with his. She reached behind him and picked up the leather jerkin he'd draped over the bushes. "Here, let me help," she offered as she helped him slip the tunic over his head. Her fingers tenderly stroked his biceps as she pulled the laces together at his side. His deep brown eyes darkened immeasurably as he watched her tie the cords; one hand came up to lightly caress her cheek as she finished.

"You know what I think?" Clark asked in a voice thickened with desire.

"That we need to get back to our wedding—and our wedding *night* ASAP?" Lois replied, her tone soft and husky,

"Exactly," Clark agreed. Their heads moved inexorably closer, their lips parting for a kiss, when the increasingly-familiar cough of HG Wells drew their attention away from one another.

"Sorry… Your, uh, parents just shared a few details I thought you should be aware of," Wells told them nervously. "It seems that the two of you, or rather, Sir Charles and Lady Loisette, are secretly in love and are planning to escape across the sea together to prevent Baron Luthoros from marrying Lady Loisette and claiming lordship over her fiefdom; hence your recent rescue and escape from the Baron, which, I'm afraid, may well have triggered the curse. We may already be too late. You should make haste your return to the Baron's camp and find out if the curse has been cast."

"And if it has?" Lois asked, none too pleased with this development.

"Then you'll have to find some way to reverse the curse, even if it means returning Lady Loisette to the Baron." Wells attempted to stare down Clark, which lasted all of a half-second before he averted his gaze a tad fearfully.

"I can't just leave her stuck with that monster!" Clark declared defiantly.

"If you don't, you'll be doomed to a never-ending string of tragedies, lifetime after lifetime," Wells responded forebodingly.

"Well, if I know Lady Loisette," Lois interjected, "and I think I do, she can handle him."

"Well, let's just see where things stand before we make any decisions," Clark said, unwilling to concede to Wells' plan just yet.

~~*S*~~

A short while of Lois enduring enough primping and sprucing from Marta to make her want to scream, Clark returned to the stronghold beaming in satisfaction. His expression quickly melted into pure adoration as he took in the sight of his beloved in her renaissance finery. Several long strides took him directly before her and he swept her into his arms for a lengthy, passionate kiss that was predictably interrupted by a noisy throat-clearing from a certain pesky time-traveler.

"Forgive me for interrupting," Wells began.

"Are you kidding?" Lois retorted in irritation. "We could set our clocks by it."

Sensing his unwelcome, Wells cut straight to the point. "Has the curse been cast?"

"No," Clark answered with satisfaction. "And what's more, I think I've managed to prevent it from being cast at all."

"That's great!" Lois threw her arms back around Clark's neck in a fierce embrace.

"I struck a deal with the Baron's sorceress." Clark pulled back from her just enough to meet her eyes with a mischievous twinkle in his. "A 'Mistress Katarina', if you can believe it."

"Katarina?" Lois echoed in disbelief. "As in… Cat Grant?"

"You got it in one," Clark replied.

"What sort of deal?" Lois asked skeptically.

"She agreed not to cast the curse in exchange for an assurance of protection from the Fox… and…" Clark trailed off, his eyes casting downward in apparent embarrassment.

"And…?" The tone of Lois's voice became even more dubious as her mind began to conjure several possible demands based on her knowledge of the 'Mistress's' counterpart.

"And the… companionship…" At this pause, Lois raised her eyebrows derisively before Clark continued, "of Sir Charles' squire… Jeremy."

"Jeremy? As in…"

"Jimmy."

"Oh, that poor boy," Lois muttered only somewhat sincerely. "All right, so, what's the plan now?"

"We let the Fox and Lady Loisette get captured attempting to escape, the Fox duels the Baron, defeats him, Sir Charles and Lady Loisette and the fiefdom live happily ever after, and we—

"Go home, get married, and live our own happy ever after," Lois finished. "I like it! Well, what are we waiting for?"

Clark allowed himself a lingering, loving gaze at Lois before replying, "I'll need my green tights."

~~*S*~~

It took almost no time at all for Lois and Clark to allow themselves to be captured by the Baron's soldiers. The lovers were hastily separated and lead back to Luthoros's camp, where the malevolent overlord was waiting for them. He was grinning with self-righteous superiority as the soldiers dragged Clark before him; a swift blow to the back of his legs dropped Clark to his knees in forced genuflection before their ruler.

"How long I have waited for this moment," Luthoros announced smugly. "The only question which remains is… do I simply kill you now, or force you to watch me take your mate in holy matrimony first?"

"The real question is," Clark countered defiantly, "do you have the courage to kill me yourself, or will you have someone else do your dirty work as usual?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Luthoros retorted snidely. "I'm a Baron. I only duel nobility."

"Spoken like a true coward," Lois rejoined.

"Then take up your sword and fight me now," Clark commanded as he ripped off the small black mask of the Fox.

"Sir Charles?" The Baron gaped at him in disbelief. "You are the Fox? My God, I can't believe a simple little mask over the eyes had me fooled all these years!"

"Oh, get over it," Lois scoffed. "This won't be the last time he'll have you fooled."

Baron Luthoros snarled in a rage as he whipped out a sword obviously intended more for decoration than battle.

"Sir Charles!" Jeremy the squire called out to him as he tossed the far more utilitarian blade of Sir Charles. Clark caught it just in time to deflect a lunging thrust from the Baron.

"Parry, parry. Thrust, thrust. Good!" Clark taunted Luthoros as he easily countered the Baron's enraged attacks.

"Obviously, you learned nothing from all those years of watching Sir Charles fight your battles for you," Lois goaded.

With an indignant growl, Luthoros again lunged toward Clark, who easily sidestepped the attack and gave a hearty shove with his foot to the derriere of the mortified Baron. He fell to the ground, and before he could clamber back to his feet, Clark moved over him, pinning him to the ground with a foot to his throat and his sword poised for a mortal blow.

"Well?" Luthoros choked out. "What are you waiting for? Kill me already!"

Clark shook his head as he lowered his sword; he kept Luthoros pinned to the ground with his foot when he replied. "I'm not that kind of man, Baron Luthoros. Unlike you, I will not needlessly take the life of another. Besides, justice would be far better served by forcing you to live out your days dethroned, disgraced, and disregarded. Having bested you in this duel, you must forfeit all your holdings to me—especially the hand of Lady Loisette."

The crowd, which by now also included the outcast peasants from the Fox's forest stronghold, erupted with enthusiastic cheers heralding Sir Charles as their lord and champion. Lois ran out to Clark and the couple shared a spectacular, crowd-pleasing lip-lock. This time, no amount of throat-clearing from Wells had the ability to interrupt them from their pursuit of passion.

~~*S*~~

In a small chapel on the outskirts of Metropolis, Lois Lane slowly glided down the aisle on the arm of her father, Sam Lane, who had barely made it to the church on time, underscored by the gentle strains of Pachelbel's Canon. Every last detail had been painstakingly considered so as not to evoke even the slightest reminder of her previous matrimonial ruse.

When they reached the altar, Sam bestowed a patriarchal kiss on his daughter's cheek before passing her arm to her eager groom. Lois and Clark shared a long, loving smile before turning to the man presiding over their nuptials, their editor and friend, Perry White, who had readily offered his services after revealing himself to be a legally ordained minister of the First Church of Blue Suede Deliverance.

"Friends, we have gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony. Now, marriage isn't something to be entered upon lightly. Just like a newspaper, it takes a lot of hard work to make it a success. But if anybody can do it, these two can. Now, Clark, you're about the most perfect guy I know." At this, Lois and Clark shared a quick, secretive smile. "And Lois, you're…" Lois cocked an eyebrow up at his pause. Perry smiled indulgently as he continued, "well, you're perfect, too, just the way you are. So basically, these are two wonderful people… who love each other very much… and who deserve each other. And, uh… after all the hardships you've endured, I think you guys have learned something. Love survives. Survives any joy, any sorrow; all the rights, all the wrongs; even life and death. You know that now, just as you know that you've come to the right time and the right place to begin your life together." Perry paused for a moment, one corner of his smiling lips quirking upward. His next words were delivered in his best King of Rock 'n' Roll voice. "It's time for the big finish!" The small crowd chuckled appropriately before Perry turned to Clark with all due seriousness, and not a trace of the King's trademark expressions in his kind smile. "Clark?"

"Lois… I have loved you from the moment I saw you." Her smile turned slightly shy and self-deprecating as a fleeting image of their very first encounter flashed through her mind at his words. "I love your humor, your passion. The way you dive right in… even when you shouldn't." His eyes twinkled merrily at the challenging glint his words provoked in her eyes. "Because you refuse to just watch the world," he continued, his voice filled with confident pride that stirred up just the right amount of warm fuzzy feelings in her belly. "You demand that it be a better place, and because of you, it is." He'd done it again. He'd conjured within her that heady mix of empowerment and humility—that this man, this god among men, knew the goodness in her heart, believed in her, had faith in her, and loved her above all others was surely the greatest miracle she would ever experience. Of that she was certain, and that certainty showed brightly in her smile. "And today, I want to give you as much of the world as I can. So I give you my heart, my soul… and our future."

A slight hint of tears welled up in her eyes; her lips trembled slightly as the power of the emotions in his words filled every molecule of her very being as he slid her wedding band onto her finger.

"Lois?" Perry prompted after a moment.

Lois drew in a steadying breath before speaking. "Clark… You're my best friend. Until you, I never really had a best friend." She again looked slightly shy and self-deprecating when she glanced downward and let out a soft laugh. Slowly, she raised those slightly shy eyes back up to meet with his before continuing her vows. "Falling in love with you has been so easy… I don't know why I fought it for so long." Clark's smile softened in perfect comprehension that flooded her heart with gratitude and admiration. "You have such gentle grace, and such quiet strength; but mostly, such incredible kindness. I've never known anyone with as pure a heart." Finding just the right words to capture all she felt for the whole of the man before her, especially when so few in attendance knew all that he truly was, had certainly been a tricky challenge; but as she spoke those words now, as she took in the humble, loving response in Clark's eyes and his smile, she knew she'd found the right ones. "So today, I give you my heart, my soul, my love… and our life, together." With shaky hands, she slipped Clark's wedding band on his waiting finger.

"By the power vested in me by the city of Metropolis and the First Church of Blue Suede Deliverance… Lois and Clark, I now pronounce you husband and wife!" The small crowd cheered as the newlyweds collided into one another in a tremendously passionate kiss. "You may now keep kissing the bride," Perry concluded with a chuckle. And for a very long time, that is precisely what they did.

~~*S*~~

Clark carried his bride over the threshold of his apartment, kicking the door closed behind them only after pulling the last of Lois's voluminous skirt in amidst their fits of laughter. As he gently lowered her to the floor, she continued to cling to him as their laughter slowly subsided into ridiculously silly grins.

"This is it, isn't it?" Lois finally managed in a breathless voice.

"The moment our lives begin," Clark confirmed. He dipped his head down for a soft kiss.

"This really isn't a dream?" Lois asked as he lifted his head back up, only to find him dropping down again for another, longer kiss.

"That feel like a dream?" Clark asked after they parted once more.

"Mmm… dream come true," was her soft reply. As Clark began to move back toward her for yet another touch of lip to lip, Lois pulled back with a sigh. "You know, I'm really beat. I guess all the excitement of the last few weeks must be catching up to me," she informed him.

Clark's face was positively crestfallen. "You're kidding," he deadpanned. "Please tell me you're kidding."

Lois held his gaze for one timeless moment before breaking out in a teasing grin. "I will be right back," she told him as she pulled away and darted down the steps as quickly as her insanely poofy wedding gown would allow. Clark watched the cloud of white disappear around the corner into his bedroom with a wry shake of his head.

Clark bounded down the stairs while un-knotting his bow-tie and slipping it free of the collar of his dress shirt. "You know, I'm really glad we decided to make the reservations in Hawaii for tomorrow," he called out as he entered the bedroom. A quick burst of heat-vision lit a pair of candles on the headboard as he flipped the light switch off, bathing the room in the warm flickering glow of the small flames. He'd just opened a chilled bottle of Champagne and poured some into their waiting glasses when he heard Lois's footsteps approaching from the bathroom.

"I'm glad, too," she said as she rounded the corner into sight. "Because we are not leaving this room tonight." She smiled, suddenly feeling strangely self-conscious as Clark stared open-mouthed at her black satin and lace teddy clad appearance. She adjusted the sheer black robe, one that had come with this sultry little piece of lingerie that Clark bought for her, a couple of times before tossing it back into the bathroom behind her. A slow smile burning with desire stole across Clark's face as she slowly strode across the room toward him.

"But I think you're a little over-dressed still, aren't you?" His captivated response to her solidified her confidence; her smile and voice grew equal parts sultry and playful. She blinked once, and he came back into focus clad in an unbuttoned black shirt and a deliciously sexy pair of silky black boxers.

"Didn't spill a drop," Clark boasted, holding out their inscribed glasses.

Lois took both glasses from his grasp and set them on the nearest available surface. "I don't want anything to cloud this moment."

Clark smiled in understanding. "The moment we were destined for," he told her softly as she moved into his waiting arms.

"We've been through so much to get to this moment." Lois reached up to lightly stroke his cheek.

Clark leaned into her touch, turning his head to press a kiss into her palm. "This is the moment we've both been waiting for," he said, dropping another soft kiss into her palm. "Longing for," he continued as he dropped another. "Dreaming of our entire lives." He dropped one last kiss into her palm with an added tickled of his tongue. She grinned as he tilted his head down and pressed her palm into his smooth cheek.

"Okay, enough with the mushy talk," Lois finally huffed after an entirely too lengthy googley-eyed staring session. "Shut up and kiss me already!" Clark complied with great enthusiasm.

Once again, they shared that mystical time-halting effect as they instantly lost themselves in their intimately languid explorations. Clark's hands slid low around her narrow waist and pulled her firmly into him. Those few places where skin met skin without the silk, satin and lace barriers sparked with electricity that burned each and every point of contact. Lois trailed her hand from his cheek up to his temple and into his soft hair. As she reveled in the freedom to caress every silky lock, her other arm wound its way around Clark's waist and pulled their bodies even closer together. The blazing flesh hidden behind the sultry blend of fabrics lace seemed to burn even hotter than those points of bare-skinned contact as the pressure between them drew them together ever more strongly, as inexorable as the moon's pull on the tides.

Clark began easing Lois backwards until the back of her legs bumped against the bed. She let herself fall back onto the mattress, a slow gentle free-fall relying solely on Clark. Never breaking from their tenderly passionate oral exchange, Clark lowered himself over her while sliding her down the bed until her feet were no longer dangling over the edge. He came to rest on top of her with a fraction of his weight pressing down on her.

They weren't in the slightest hurry to reach that pivotal moment of completion. Every moment was to be savored and cherished; every kiss, every stroke, each caress, each convergence, all the sighs, all the gasps, whimpers and moans of approval were indelibly etched into memory.

Clark's kisses left her lips to trail feather-light up across her cheek, along her temple, grazing down the edge of her ear to the one spot he loved more than any other on her incredible body, one that had been driving him nuts for the last fourteen months, three weeks, two days, and twelve hours since he first laid eyes on her the day they first met: that small, perfectly smooth little dent in the delicate flesh just below her earlobe. He pressed his tongue into that spot as his lips pulled her lobe slightly into his mouth. He traced the lightest touch of swirling circles around that dimple for several delicious turns that wrought moans of immense pleasure from Lois. He finally began dropping lingering kisses down the side of her throat until her met the wide satin strap of her teddy. He continued dropping his kisses lower across her chest along the line of the negligee; every touch of his lips to her flesh as he caressed the soft swell of cleavage displayed in perfection above the hem of the teddy seemed to grow hotter, intensifying the magnitude of their shared desire.

He continued his path up alongside the edge of the other strap, back up her neck, pausing for a few teasing swipes of his tongue around the swirling curves of her other ear. He then continued across her temple, her jawbone, her cheek just above the corner of her lip, before he finally found his way back to meet her mouth to mouth. As he pressed down into her to deepen their kiss, she lifted her head off the pillow. She drew her arms up and pushed down into the mattress beneath her ribs, causing Clark to rise up onto his knees. Lois rose with him, wrapping her arms around him, one high, one low, as she settled in kneeling against Clark. It was now her turn to break away from their kiss, done with a loud gasp as she sharply drew in a lungful of precious oxygen. She tipped her head back and Clark's forward momentum led his mouth to crash into that small hollow of the base of her throat. His tongue darted out, but he only got the scantest taste of her before his head was pulled back by her strong hands woven through his hair. He let her pull him backwards, releasing a hearty groan as she began showering his neck with luxurious kisses that missed not one centimeter of his delicious skin.

Her hands disentangled from his hair to glide down to the top of his collar. She slid her fingers beneath the soft fabric, only scarcely making contact with the heated flesh hidden beneath as she drew the shirt off his shoulders and down his arms. It dropped into a puddle on the soft bed around them, forgotten the moment it was released. Lois entwined her fingers with Clark's as she began dropping soft little kisses across his collarbone. With little more than the pressure of her mouth against his chest, she eased Clark back into the mattress. Lois was kneeling over him, her legs between his as he settled onto his back, closed his eyes, and tuned every one of his incredibly heightened senses into the sensations his wife was evoking.

His wife! She had known the moment she first laid eyes on him; even though she had barely afforded him a glance lasting all of two beats of the heart, she'd know in that instant that he was enthralled with her. Although she immediately snapped her focus back to her bid for the story, she was quite adept at multi-tasking her thoughts, even and especially when they were running at warp speed. As the words relating her story came tumbling out of her mouth, she had been acutely aware of his captivated focus on her. She could just see him at the edge of her peripheral vision, but it was more than ample for her to get a good sense of the powerful presence of this man. His pull on her had felt so overwhelmingly strong that every self-defense instinct she had kicked in, slamming the door shut on any interest or, God forbid, attraction, she felt for this total stranger. Except that the door wouldn't stay shut, and she kept hearing little whispers in her mind's ear, taunting her, calling her on her cowardice, and insistently pointing out tantalizing little details about this stranger that she was determinedly trying to ignore. And so she had been helpless to avoid one portent thought from passing through her mind… she would be quite the fortunate woman if she were to become this man's future wife.

And now she was. She drew her head back from his perfectly sculpted abdominals and pulled her hands away from his. She placed her hands on either side of his hips and raised her lower torso up just high enough to adjust her legs so that she was now straddling him. She gazed down on him with eyes twinkling in newlywed bliss as she let gravity take over and pull her down into him, their point of contact as intimate as possible through the slight barriers of their garments. Lois took Clark's left hand in hers and brought her right hand up to clasp both. Her fingers played with the matching bands on each of their fingers that were laced so closely together that the rings themselves made physical contact. She brought their hands up to her lips and pressed them together at that small juncture, sealing it with a kiss. Clark answered by bringing their hands to his own lips and repeating her gesture, his gaze unwaveringly focused on hers.

She pulled her hands free of his once again and trailed them down his torso. As she began to slide her fingers beneath the elastic waistband of his boxers, though, he snatched both her hands in his, halting her progress as he gazed at her with seductive intent. Through their eye contact, she relinquished complete control over to Clark, and only after he acknowledged her submission with a twinkle of his eyes did he begin raking his hands up her silky soft arms. Upon reaching those broad straps, he slid his fingers beneath the satin and hooked them around the smooth fabric to pull them down her arms. She bent her elbows in assistance as Clark freed her limbs from their sexy constraints.

Once both of her hands were free, he again slid his hands along her arms until his thumbs grazed the sensitive flesh of her breast just above the line of her teddy. He applied slow, gentle pressure with his thumbs to ease her breasts free of the satin cups. His meandering thumb just grazed the edge of her areola as her cleavage proudly sprang free from the garment. Lois moaned, utterly enraptured by Clark's loving, passionate attention.

For a breathtaking moment, Clark simply stared at her, awed by her beauty. Then he lowered his head, his lips and tongue plunging into the valley between her breasts. He caressed the delicate undersides of her bosom with lips and tongue a while long enough to make Lois writhe and groan in overwhelmed pleasure. When he fastened his lips around the taut bud of one nipple, Lois cried out his name as she arched her back, forcing her flesh to press against his sinfully skillful mouth even more firmly. A low moan of deep satisfaction rumbled through Clark's chest, and the vibrations of sound further stimulated her, making her whimper beneath him. He redirected his attention to the other side of her body, sucking her other aroused nipple in between his lips as she dug her hands into his hair and held him to her.

They were completely unhurried as they took turns exploring again one another's intimately familiar bodies. Clark was truly driving Lois out of her mind with desire when he finally lifted his head from her breast so that he could push her negligee further down. When he reached her hips, she lifted her pelvis so he could ease the teddy all the way down her body, his lips following the trail of his fingers down one leg until she was completely divested of the garment. He touched his lips to the soft skin just beneath her ankle bone, and again to her instep, and then he lightly sucked each of her toes. She was squirming beneath him as he shifted his attention to her other foot, gifting it with the same sweet caresses before he began kissing his way back up her leg, his eyes devouring every inch of her fully nude body beneath his.

When at long last he reached her erogenous apex, he pressed his open lips against her and slowly sucked her soft, sweet folds into his mouth. His lower lip raked up the length of her supple slit until both lips were latched around her thoroughly aroused center of pleasure. His tongue began to lazily stroke that sensitive little nub, up and down, side to side, around and around. His ears were filled with the sounds of Lois moaning, groaning, gasping and sighing in enthusiastic response to his passionate ministrations. His hands, which had been splayed across her pelvis, slid downward to join his mouth in pleasuring her. She spread her legs wide beneath him as his fingers tenderly pulled her slick outer folds open; he ran his tongue down the length of her and thrust as deeply into her intimate opening as he could stretch. He plunged his tongue into her again and again before abruptly moving back to the sensitive bud of her clitoris as his fingers dove deep inside her. Again she cried out his name as all of those tiny muscles deep inside of her squeezed tight around the digits buried within her core.

His fingers began thrusting in and out of her as he flicked his tongue across her clit faster than humanly possible. She squeezed tighter and tighter, her moans growing louder and louder, until that sweet release finally exploded, her body flying up off the bed as she convulsed around him in rapturous delight. He couldn't be stopped, though, and before the quakes of her first orgasm had fully subsided, a second climax ripped through her body, then a third… and then she stopped counting altogether, because it felt like she was locked in one astronomical, endless orgasm unlike anything she had ever experienced in her entire life.

After eternity came and went, Clark finally released Lois and crawled up over her body to pin her to the bed beneath him fully. He gazed down at his flushed bride with a predatory, satisfied grin. He gladly gave her all the time she needed to slow her racing heartbeat, content for the moment to simply savor the picture she made in the warmth of her afterglow.

The passionate haze in her eyes gradually faded back down to simmering desire as she stared back at her new husband. She stretched her head up to capture his lips in hers, and as she tasted herself in his kiss, she felt the flames of passion come roaring right back to life once more.

Using her entire body, she rolled them over until she was laying over Clark. A mischievous glint sparkled in her eyes as she looked down on Clark. "As you once said, I do like to be on top," she teased before catching his lips up in another sensual oral exchange.

"No complaints here," Clark answered in the midst of their kisses.

"Mmmm," she replied. "And now I believe I have some wifely duties to attend to." Her eyes sparkled in the candlelight with alluring intent as she began trailing hot kisses down his throat and torso until she reached the waist of his boxers once again. This time, when she slid her fingers beneath the silk, Clark floated up above the bed a few inches to aid her in removing that last garment. Freed at last of its slight confines, his erection jutted up proud and tall as she pulled the boxers down his legs. After his feet slipped out and she tossed the article aside absently before running the velvety touch of her hands back up his nicely muscled legs.

When she reached his center, she wrapped her lips around just the rounded tip of him in a sensual kiss as her tongue slowly circled him and pressed firmly into the small opening of the head of his arousal. Clark groaned tremendously in response, then growled her name as she wrapped one hand fully around his engorged shaft. She began lightly sucking as her hand stroked him, pressing her fingers into the vein running the length of him as she rhythmically squeezed and released his hot rod of love. Ever so gradually, her tempo increased in speed; her other hand found the sac of his testicles and fondled them gently, rolling those internal globes between her fingers. Then her fingers circled around the base of his testes, pressing deeply into the sensitive, swollen glands at the very base of his erection both above and beneath his balls. Throaty moans of appreciation rumbled through Clark as he responded to every nuance of her touch.

Then she opened her mouth wide and practically swallowed him whole. Clark groaned out her name in exquisite pleasure as he quite literally flew off the bed, taking her with him. She was still straddling his legs at the knees as he held them suspended in midair. Over and over, her mouth dove down on him; her lips, tongue, even her teeth wrought within him ever more delightful sensations. She recognized the signs of his impending climax as his entire body began to tremble, then throb beneath her. She could feel through every pore in her body the raw sexual energy radiating from his powerful, magnetic presence when every last muscle in his body contracted with solid steel tension before exploding convulsively into her loving mouth. But just as he hadn't let up on her when she had reached that peak, so she continued working her mouth and hands over him, prolonging and intensifying his orgasm through wave after terrific wave of physical, emotional, and spiritual ecstasy.

Lois had never really enjoyed the taste of a man's ejaculation before, but it was a quite a different matter with Clark. She savored every last drop of his juices, couldn't ever seem to get enough, even. She attributed his incredible and unique flavor to his Kryptonian physiology, appreciating again the benefits of being the other half of this extraordinary man's soul.

As the spurts of his fluids grew further and farther between, Lois gradually slowed the tempo of the rhythmic motions of her hands and mouth. It wasn't until Clark's hands, which had at some point become thoroughly entangled in her hair, began pulling her head up that Lois finally allowed him to withdraw from her mouth. Lois clung to his frame as they hovered somewhere between the bed and the ceiling and allowed Clark to pull her up along his body until they met eye to eye. He'd lifted his torso to meet her halfway, and so were floating in a position that wasn't quite laying, but not quite sitting, either, as though gravity had shifted the angle of its pull on them some forty-five degrees from its normal plane.

"You, oh love of my life," Clark began after countless heartbeats of intimate eye-gazing, "are, in so many ways, brilliantly gifted with oral talents." In exchange for his praise, Lois gifted him with a proud, sultry smile. He had only softened marginally after being so thoroughly satisfied only moments before; but the instant their lips made contact, he grew as hard and solid as he'd ever been.

"I don't know why we waited so long to start doing this," Lois told him as she broke apart from their kisses. "We are really good at this!"

Clark chuckled. "We're great together," he replied softly. "Funny, though… to think that I was worried maybe we were rushing things."

"You thought we were rushing?" She gazed at him with curious eyes.

"Well, we hadn't really even dated when I proposed—and that was less than two months after we'd finally admitted we've fallen in love with each other." With his next words, his voice grew low and contrite. "I thought maybe my proposal was a knee-jerk reaction to watching you walk down the aisle to Luthor."

"Well, of course it was!" Her reply startled him. "Not just the wedding, though… The whole undercover-fiancée ordeal. It had eaten away at us both every moment of every day for six weeks." She reached up to lightly stroke his cheek. "And when it was over, we were both completely overwhelmed by our relief. I knew it when I accepted," she told him with a soft smile. "Actually, I knew it the moment you dropped down on one knee. And you know…" she paused for a heartbeat, her fingers brushing that persistent lock of curl back from his forehead. "It really doesn't matter. Because the moment I realized how completely in love with you I had fallen, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life loving you. In my heart, I've been married to you from that moment on."

Clark's smile filled with awe and joy. "You are truly amazing."

"Well," she replied, mock humility in her smile, "I have my moments."

"And it's the moments that count," he replied, pulling her back into another kiss. Their kiss slowly deepened as their bodies moved together. Lois arched her back and tilted her pelvis until she felt Clark's heated arousal slide between her legs. Slowly, deliberately, she began grinding into him as he found her entrance and invaded her welcoming core in one torturously slow thrust.

When at last he was buried to the hilt deep inside her hot, moist glove, she wrapped both arms low around his waist, clenching his buttocks in her hands and holding him strong against her as she gyrated her pelvis into him. She began contracting those internal muscles, squeezing him rhythmically as she ground into him. One of Clark's hands again tangled itself in her soft tresses, while the other slid down her throat and across her collarbone to find her breast. As he continued to plunder her mouth with his own, he kneaded her pliant flesh while circling her nipple with his thumb. Moans and groans and sighs and cries of mutual pleasure played in underscore of their lovemaking.

Lois slid her hands to the sides of his hips and pulled him back; he rumbled with pleasure as he slowly withdrew from her body only to be fiercely slammed deep inside her once more. Her hands and hips worked in tandem as she guided the opening tempo of their intercourse. Their shared passion simmered slow and intense between them and they relished the simple joy of being so completely, intimately connected with one another as they drifted through the air wherever the currents of their lovemaking carried them.

The quality of their passion ebbed and flowed; at times, their dance was light and playful, others it was somber and reverent, and always, always filled with pure, unconditional love. They tumbled and rolled through the air as though weightless, oblivious to the world beyond the space between their joined bodies. Murmurs of love and adulation mingled amongst their moans and sighs as they slowly brought each other towards that final grand crescendo. Their tempo began quickening in perfect synchronization as hands and mouths worked in seamless union to pull one another up, up, up and away, over the edge and into oblivion as they soared beyond the heavens in this first of many passionate journeys throughout this long, dark night in which their life together was finally beginning.

~~*S*~~

Fini!


End file.
